
Class. 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrF 



DISCOVERERS, PIONEERS, AND SETTLERS 



lORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA 



FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD (982) TO THE PRESENT TIME; 



COMPBISINO 

THE LI\'ES OF THE MOST FAMOUS DISCOVERERS, EXPLORERS, AND CONQUERORS 

OF THE NEW WORLD ; AN ACCOUNT OF THE FOUNDATION OF COLONIES AND 

THE SETTLEMENT OF STATE^ AND PROVINCES; THE HISTORY OF THE 

SUFFERINGS AND PRIVATIONS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS, AND THEIR 

WARS WITH THE NATIVE INHABITANTS; A DESCRIPTION OF 

THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPEDITIONS OF SURVEY; AND A 

VIEW OF THE GRADUAL EXTENSION OF DISCOVERY 

/ AND CIVILIZATION IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 



<lv ■ ■■ 

7 HENRY ] 



HOWARD BROWNELL, A. M. 



NUMEROUS AND DIVERSIFIED COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS, 

KNTIBELT NEW, MANY OF WHICH ARE FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS, 

EXECUTED IN THE BEST STYLE OF THE ART, BY THE FIRST ARTISTS IN AMERICA. 



BOSTON: 
HORACE WENTWORTH. 

86 WASHINGTON STREET. 

1858. 



NTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1852, BY 

LUCIUS STEBBINS, 

IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT. 






iPOUNDRY OF SILAS ANDRUS & SON, STEAM PRESS 

HARTFORD. OF 

W. C. Armstrong, Typographer. W . S . WILLIAMS. 



^'-^-" 



INTRODUCTIOiX. 



AmiD the great variety of books, ancient and modern, illustrating the early 
liistory of America, none, it is believed, presents, in a popular form, any thing 
like a complete record of the leading events of its discovery and settlement. 
To comprise, in a single volume, the most important and interesting passages 
of its progressive colonization, from the earliest known period until the present 
time, has been attempted in the following work. 

Next to the clear and full elucidation of historical facts, it has been the 
aim of the writer to present, as vividly as possible, the spirit of the age and 
traits of individual character. To effect this, he has permitted the chief actors, 
so far as might agree with requisite conciseness, to speak for themselves, 
and by their own words to determine the measure of renown or infamy to 
which they are entitled. If, by this directness of contact, any mythological 
conceptions of celebrated personages, long popularly current, should be partially 
dispelled, the portrait of reality, it is believed, will not be found an uninterest- 
ing substitute for that of imagination. 

In preparing this book, a considerable number of ancient and original au- 
thorities, many of them rarely to be met, have been diligently consulted. 
Among these may be mentioned the following: Antiquitates Americanse (con- 
taining Icelandic MSS., &c.) The First Voyage of Columbus, The Decades 
of Peter Martyr, Cortes' Letters and Dispatches to Charles V., Bernal Diaz's 
True Conquest of Mexico, De Soils' Conquest of Mexico, the Conquest of 
Florida, by a Gentleman of Elvas, Hakluyt's Voyages and other publications, 
Purchas his Pilgrimage and Pilgrims, Tiie Journals of Henry Hudson, Robert 
Juet, and Habbakuk Prickett, The True Adventures of Captain John Smith, 
the Journals of Governors Bradford and Winslow — Mourt's Relation, Gov- 
ernor Winthrop's Journal, Morton's New England's jMemorial, Hubbard's 
History of New England — Hubbard's Indian Wars — Cotton Mather's Slag- 
nalia Christi Americana, Church's Entertaining History of King Philip's War, 
Boone's Nnrrative, &c., &c., with a variety of Historical collections. 

The journals and narratives of modern American adventurers have also 
been perused, and a great number of standard works, treating on detaclied 
subjects, have been carefully examined and compared. To these, and espe- 
ci.illy in the history of Spanish transactions, to the classical and elaborate 
productions of Robertson, Irving, and Prescott, the writer has resorted, as 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

the most rcli;i>ilc nuthority, for the leading facts of liis subject; but, with a 
view to novelty and piquancy of detail, original documents, as fur as they 
were accessible, have been faithfully consulted. 

These records, extending over several ages, and pertaining to several nations, 
along with fascinating glimpses of high courage and resolute endurance, of 
profound sagacity and far-sighted policy, reveal to the view a strange wilder- 
ness of fancy, credulity, ignorance, superstition, cruelty, and bigotry. When 
most of them were writtten, comparatively little was known of the Western 
World, and that little with no great certainty. All beyond was Dream-land, 
Fairy-land, El Dorado, the true realm of imagination, which loved to people 
it with all foneiful creations. No tale was too wild to meet with po-pular cre- 
dence — whether of golden palaces and fountains of perpetual youth, or of 
monsters and chimeras dire, guarding their treasures, and forbidding all access 
to the tempting shores. 

Natural history, in especial, was at a sad discount. Peter Martyr, with 
classical fondness, records the appearance of Tritons in the waters of the 
New World; Columbus and Hudson chronicle with much particularity their 
respective encounters with shoals of mermaids; and the Pilgrims of Plymouth 
hiinestly relate their alarm at the roar of lions prowling in the frozen forests 
of New England. One writer contended that India must be in the vicinity 
of Cuba, seeing that the parrots there answered so well to the description of 
Pliny; and another, near a century later, surmised an easy nortlierly passage 
to the same country, because the "home of a unicorne" (doubtless brougiit 
from India by the tides [!]) had been found on some dreary shore of the 
Arctic ocean. 

A grave English author, describing Guiana, hesitates to endorse all the 
reports of travellers in that region, and, with prudent candor, reserves his 
opinion for further information. "Againe," he says, "they tell of men with 
mouthes in their breasts, and eyes in their shoulders, called Chiparemai, and 
of the Guianians, Ewiaponomos, very strong: and of others headed like Dogges, 
which liue all the day time in the Sea. These things are strange, tjel I dare 
not. esleeme them fabulous ; onely (as not too prodigal of faith) I suspend, till 
some eye-intilligence of some of our parts haue testified the truth." Else- 
where he tells us of certain savages who appeared on the shore, wearing visors 
like the heads of dogs — " or els they were Dogges' Heads indeed." 

In no other field has there been a richer or more fanciful display of the love 
for the supernatural — whether in its brighter and more alluring phases, or in all 
tlie imagined horrors of infernal manifestation. Columbus elaborately argued 
that he had entered on the confines of the Garden of Eden — the terrestrial 
Paradise. Two centuries later, we find a voyager through unfamiliar seas 
gravely entering on the log, "Hereabouts is said to be an inehanted island." 
Most especially in all matters connected with the aborigines, this fascinating 



INTEODUCTIOX, O 

excM'oise of the fancy was allowed to have its full swing. Ills Holiness the 
Pope, in granting the right of conquest, had assumed, as a matter of course, 
that all natives of the newly-found lands were under tlie direct dominion of 
the Enemy; his orthodox followers could do no less than sustain and verify 
the sentiment; and the Protestant English, while disowning his authority, 
and falling back for their share of territory on natural right, were ready 
enough to adopt a theory so comfortable to the conscience and so gratifying 
to the imagination. Accordingly, the early voyagers, of all nations, wherever 
they landed, were prepared to tind, among the inhabitants, scenes of necro- 
mancy and diablerie. The mystical Indian ceremonies of council and devotion, 
were to them nothing but incantation and Satan- worship; they were ever 
on the alert against native magic and sorcery; and, like Robinson Crusoe, 
they saw the foot-print of the devil on every uninhabited shore. 

It is strange how long and how generally this Satanic incubus hung over 
all European adventurers. In all matters of mystery, the Gordian knot was 
invariably cut by a reference to diabolical agency. No other hypothesis was 
ever allowable in explanation of Indian reserve or hostility. Montezuma 
could not retire to his "House of Sorrow," except for a personal interview 
with .the Adversary. If a Pequot war broke out, it was- because "the devil 
had taken the alarum" at the prosperity of the church in New England. 
That worthy knight. Sir Martin Frobisher, having captured an old Esquimaux 
of hideous appearance, thought proper to pluck otF her buskins to ascertain " if 
she were cloven-footed or no." Errors such as these, outgrown by maturing 
humanity, may provoke a smile; but not justly from any who, in our own dav, 
see fit to ascribe the phenomena of mngnetism and the development of natural, 
though as yet unstudied laws, to the same infernal and demoniac origin. 

The fact that the New World was known to Europeans long before the 
days of Columbus, has been established, by irrefragable evidence, beyond all 
reasonable doubt. But it is equally certain that for centuries it had been lost 
to them by neglect and disuse, and that the grand originality of his schemti 
was in no measure dependent on any former experience. What he sought, 
from first to last, was not the discovery of a New Continent (though such 
was the splendid reward of his exertions), but the directest way to the remot;i 
shores of the Old, and a practical solution of the grand problem, still open in 
his day, of the sphericity of the earth. The ch;ince discoveries of tempest- 
driven mariners, in the northern seas, leading to no important result, and soon 
lost in obscurity, can in no degree impair the fame of him who, lirst, with a 
grand, though erroneous aim, 

" * * * * * Undaunted could explore 
A world of waves, a sea without a shore, 
Tracklt'ss, ami v.ist. and wild as that revealed 
When round the Ark ihe birds of tempest wheeled." 



b INTIIODUCTIOX. 

In reviewing the liistory of American cokmization, the mind is at first struck 
with the wonderful brilliancy and rapidity of Spanish discovery and conquest 
during the first century of their career; an impression naturally followed by 
the reflection that in the end no substantial advantage has accrued to the 
nation whose enterprise laid open the pathway to the New World, and whuse 
valor and genius were the first to avail themselves of its tempting opportuni- 
ties. Extermination of the native inhabitants, bigoted exclusion of foreigners, 
and, in the end, outrageous oppression of her own dependencies, have marked, 
almost without exception, the colonial administration of Spain, and have 
finally resulted in its nearly complete annihilation. Her once numerous prov- 
ifices, alienated by mismanagement and tyranny, have found, in republican 
anarchy, a questionable relief from parental misrule; while that beautiful 
island, almost the solitary jewel in her crowi^, and only proving, by its ex- 
ception, the general rule of her losses, is held by a tenure so insecure i;s 
barely to deserve the name of possession. 

For an hundred and ten years, the rival nations of France and England 
hardly took a step in tiie same venturous direction, or if they did, under cir- 
cumstances of such gross ignorance and infatuation, as were almost certain 
to preclude the possibility of success. The various and widely-severed colo- 
nies of France, founded, through a century of misfortunes and discourage- 
ments, by ardent and indefatigable servants of the crown, have, with one or 
two insignificant exceptions, slipped from her hands — not from any want of 
loyalty or national affection in the provincial inhabitants, but from the feeble- 
ness of the French marine, ever unable to compete with that of her haughty 
rival, and quite inefficient for the protection and retention of distant colonies. 

England, the last to enter on the noble enterprise of peopling the New 
Hemisphere, but finally bringing to the task a spirit of progress, a love of 
freedom, and a strent'th of principle unknown to her predecessors, has founded, 
amid disastrous and unpromising beginnings, an empire mightier and more 
enduring than all or any of its compeers; lost, indeed, for the most part, to 
her private aggrandizement, but not to the honor of her name or the best 
interests of mankind; an empire already prosperous beyond all example in 
history, and destined, it is probable, at no distant day, to unite under its o-enial 
protection every league of that vast continent stretching from the Atlantic to 
tlie Pacific, from the tropical forests of Darien to the eternal snows of the 
Arctic Circle. 



CONTENTS. 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. paor 

Chaptbr I. Ancient Northern Chronicles— Early Scandinavian Voyagers — Discovery and 
Settlement of Iceland — Discovery and Settlement of Greenland by Eirek the Red — Acci- 
dental Discovery of North America by Biarni Heriulfson, . . . .17 

Chapter II. Voyage of Lief— The Country named Vinland — Voyage and Explorations 
Thorvald — His Death— Unsuccessful Attempt of Thorstein, . . . .21 

Chapter III. The Expedition of Thorflnn— The God Thor worshipped in New England- 
Fight with the Skrcellings or Natives— Return — Heroic Conduct of Biarni Griraolfson, 25 

Chapter IV. Mention of Vinland in various MSS. — Probable Intercourse between Ireland 
and America— Stoiy of Biorn Asb ran dson— Icelandic and other Remains in America— A 
supposed Welsh Colony, ......... 30 

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 

Chapter I. The Early Life of Columbus— His Maritime and Geographical Acquirements 
— The General Passion for Discovery — The Development of his Scheme, . . 37 

Chapter II. Dealings with the Court of Portugal— Treachery of John II.— Columbus jour- 
neys into Spain — His Poverty — His Application to Ferdinand and Isabella — The Council 
of Salamanca, .......... i'.i 

Chapter III. Delays and Disappointments — Final Success of Columbus with the Sovereigns 
— DiflSculties of Preparation — Assistance of the Pinzons — Departure of the Expedition, . 4a 

Chapter IV. First Voyage of Columbus — The Terrois of his Crew — Discovery of Guana- 
hani and other Bahama Islands — Simplicity of the Natives — Continual Expectations of 
finding Asia, ........... 53' 

Chapter V. Discoveiy of Cuba — Desertion of Pinzon— Discovery of Hayti, or Hispaniola 
— Character of the NativeB- -The Cacique Guacanagari — Wreck of the Santa Mai'ia — The 
Fortress of La Navidad— Departure of Columbus for Spain, . . . .00 

Chapter VI. Meeting with Pinzon — The Voyage homeward — Peril from Tempests — Treach- 
ery of the Governor of St. M&ry's — Arrival at Lisbon — Audience before John II. . 67 

Chapter VII. Arrival of Columbus at Palos — Death of Pinzon — Enthusiastic Reception 
of the Admiral— Honors confeiTed upon him— Papal Bull— Preparations for a Second 
Expedition, ........... 71 

Chapter VIII. The Second Expedition of Columbus— Discovery of Dominica, and other 
Antilles — The Caribs or Cannibals — Retuj'n to Hayti — Destruction of the Gai-rison at La 
Nuvidad, ........... 76 

Chapter IX. Foundation of the City of Isabella— Natural Wealth of the Isiand— Conspir- 
acy against Columbus — Grand Expedition to the Interior — Sufferings of the Colonists — 
Severity to the Indians, . . . . . . . , . .81 

Chapter X. Expedition of Columbus to the Westward — Discoveiy of Jamaica — Coasting 
the South of Cuba — That Island supposed to be the Continent of Asia — Intercourse with 
the Indians— Tedious Voyage in Returning, ...... 87 

Chapter XI. Disorders of the Colony — Hostilities of the Indians— Their Defeat and Sub- 
jection — Their Oppression by the Spaniards, . . . . . . .1)1 

Chapter XII. Intrigues against Columbus— Discovery of Gold Mines— His Return to 
Spain — Preparations fnr a Third Expedition, ...... 09 

Chapter XIII. Third Voyage of Columbus— Discovery of South America— Extraordinary 
Theory— Arrival at Hayti, ......... 102 



8 CONTENTS. 

I AGB 

Chapter XIV. Disorders of the Colony during the Absence of Columbus— The Rebellicn 
of Roldan— Hostilities with the Indians— Their Defeat, ..... 106 

Chapter XV. Negotiation of Columbus with the Rebels — His Submission to their Exac- 
tions — Influence of his Enemies in Spain — The Appointment of Bobadilla, . .111 

Chapter XVI. Rash and Oppressive Conduct of Bobadilla — Columbus sent home in Chains 
— Sensation at the Spanish Court — Injustice of Ferdinand — Appointment of Ovando, . 115 

Chapter XVII. Fresh Schemes of Columbus— Departure on his Fourth and Last Voyage 
of Discovery — Destruction of his Enemies — Cruise on the Coast of Honduras, &.c. — Hia 
Disappointment, .......... 121 

Chapter XVIII. Attempt to Found a Settlement— Hostilities with the Indians— The Ves- 
sels Stranded on the Island of Jamaica — Perilous Situation of the Spaniards — Remarkable 
Device of Columbus to obtain Supplies, . . . . . . .126 

Chapter XIX. Despicable Conduct of Ovando — Final Rescue of Columbus — Atrocities of 
the Spaniards in Hispaniola — Subjection and Extermination of the Natives, . . 131 

Chapter XX. Return of Columbus to Spain — Injustice of Ferdinand — Death of Columbus 
— Disposal of his Remains, ......... 135 

SEBASTIAN CABOT. 
Youth of Cabot — His Discovery of the North American Continent — His Second Voyage — 
Fruitless Attempt to Colonize the Labrador — Long Blank in the Life of Cabot — He enters 
the Service of Spain — Returns to England — Unsuccessful Expedition under Henry VIII. — 
Appointed Chief Pilot of Spain — His Expedition to South America — His Return to Eng- 
land — His Useful and Honorable Old Age, ...... 138 

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 
Account of Vespucius— His Voyage to South America with Ojeda— His Voyages to Brazil 
— Extraordinaiy Attempt at Deception, ....... 146 

THE DISCOVERY 01' THE PACIEIC OCEAN. 

Chapter 1. Account of Balboa — The Settlement at Darien — Rumors of a Sea beyond the 
Mountains — Transactions with the Indians, ...... 150 

Chapter II. Expedition of Balboa in Search of the Sea — Contests with the Natives — Dis- 
covery of the Pacific Ocean — Appointment of Pedrai'ias — Reappointment of Balboa — Mis- 
fortunes of the Colony, ......... 154 

Chapter III. Disappointments of Balboa — Expeditions of Morales and Pizarro — Recon- 
ciliation of Balboa and Pediarias — Cruise of Balboa on the Pacific — His Sudden Accusa- 
tion, Trial, and Execution, ......... 159 

THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 

'Jhapter I. Conquest of Cuba — Discovery of Yucatan — Discoveiy of Mexico — Hernando 
Cortes — His Expedition — Battles with the Tabascans, &c. — Arrival at San Juan de Ulua, 105 

Chapter II. The Landing at Vera Cruz — Negotiation with Montezuma — Magnificent 

Presents — Alliance with the Totonacs — Destruction of theu- Idols, . . . 174 

•Chapter III. The March tw Mexico commenced — War with the Tlascalans — Victories of 
the Spaniards — Spirited Resolution of Cortes, ...... 181 

Chapter IV. Submission of the Tlascalans— Entry into their City — Weak Policy of Mon- 
tezuma — Massacre of the Cholulans — The March resumed — Entrance into the City of Mex- 
ico — Interviews with the Eini)eror Montezuma, ...... 188 

(Chapter V. Description of Mexico — The Palaces and State of Montezuma — His Collections 
of Natuial History — Horrible Rites of Sacrifice — Discovery of Treasure, . . . 197 

Chapter VI. Seizure of Montezuma — His Caciques Burned at the Slake — Demeanor of 
Montezuma— Hostility of the Great Nobles— The Sovereignty of the Spanish Monarch 
Acknowledged— Immense Tribute of Treasure, ...... 203 

Chapter VII. Imprudent Zeal of Cortes— Resentment of the Jlexicans— Critical Condi- 
tion of the Spaniards— Transactions at the Court of Spain- Expedition dispatched from 
Cuba under Narvuoz, .......... 211 



CONTEXTS. 9 

, PAGE 

Chapter VIII. Cortes Marches against Nai-vaez — Pefeats and Takes him Prisoner — Gre:a 
Accession to his Force, . . . . . . . . .213 

Chapter IX. Massacre of the Aztec Chiefs by Alvarado — Tlie Return to Mexico — Hostility 
of the Aztecs — Furious Fighting for many Days in that City — The Death of Montezuma, 220 

Chapter X. The Spaniards Retreat from the City — The "Noche Triste," or Miserable Night 
— Terrible Loss on the Causeway — Retreat to TJascala — Battle of Otumba — Fidelity of the 
Tlascalans, ........... 228 

Chaptkr XI. The War Renewed — Success of the Spaniards — Great Force of Indian Allies 
— Accession of Guatemozin to the Aztec Throne — Mai'ch to the Valley of Mexico — Head- 
quarters Established at Tezcuco, ........ 234 

Chapter XII. Commencement of the Campaign against Mexico — Taking of Iztapalapan 
— Policy of Cortez in Uniting the Natives— Great Accessions to his Power — Vessels Tians- 
ported Overland — Various Battles with the Aztecs — Their Courage and Resolution — March 
around the Lakes — Great Victory at Xochimilco, ...... 240 

Chapter Xllf. Arrival at Tacuba— Grief of Cortes — Conspiracy against him— The Fleet 
Launched — Execution of Xicotencatl — Defeat of the Mexican Flotilla — Mexico Blockaded 
— General Assault on the City, ......... 247 

Chapter XIV. The Siege of Mexico Continued— Constant Fighting— Attempt to Storm the 
City— Great Loss of the Spaniards— Terrible Sacrifice of the Prisoners on the Great Temple, 253 

Chapter XV. The Siege Continued— Indomitable Courage of the Aztecs— Gradual Destruc- 
tion of the City— Terrible SutTering of the Besieged— Mexico Taken by Storm— Fearful 
Massacre— Capture of Guatemozin— Reflections, ...... 259 

Chapter XVI. Transactions after the Siege— Torture of Guatemozin — Settlement of the 
Country— Titles and Offices conferred on Cortes— His Ostentatious State— His Wise Policy, 268 

Chapter XVII. Great Acquisitions to the Crown of Spain— Terrible March of Cortes to 
Honduras — Mui-der of Guatemozin — Usurpation at Mexico — Return of Coites — Vexatious 
Commission— Cortes Embarks for Spain— Honors bestoweil on him— His Return to Mexico, 270 

Chapter XVIII. Enterprise of Cortes — His Second Return to Spain — Campaign against 
Algiers— Disappointments at Court — His Death— His Chaiacter— Fate of the Conquerors, 275 

FERNANDO MAGELLAN. 
Disputes of Spain and Portugal— Fernando Magellan— His Voyage to the Southward— The 
Patagonians— Discovery of the Strait of Magellan- Voyage to the Philippine Isles— Death 
of the Commander — Circumnavigation of the Globe, ..... 281 

THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 

Chapter I. The Colony of Panama— .Account of Francisco Pizarro— Ahnagro and Luqiic 
— First Voyage of Pi/.arro— Terrible J,()ss and Suffering— Failure of the Kx|iedilion and 
.Return — Voyage of Ahnasjro, ........ 288 

Chapter 11. Meanness of PedrariiiB— Contract of Pizarro, AIniagro, and Lnque- Second 
Voyage of Pizarro and Almagro— Ruiz Crosses the Line— Sufferings of Pizarro and his 
Men— Discovery of Tacamez— Fight with the Indians- Return of Almagro— The Island 
ofGallo — Daring Resolution of Pizarro and Twelve Com [lanions, .... 293 

Chapter III. The Island of Gorgona— Relief from Panama— Disco veiy of Tumbez— Peru- 
vian Treasure— Survey of the Coast— Return to Panama— Pizarro Repairs to Spain- 
Audience before the Emperor — Grantoftlie Crown, ... . . . 298 

Chapter IV. The Brothers of Pizarro— Departure from Spain— Third Voyage to Peru- 
March along the Coast— Valuable Plunder- Arrival at Puna— Battle with the Indians- 
Assistance of Saint Michael, ......... 302 

Chapter V. The People of Peru— Tradition of their Origin— Government, "A Paternal 
Despotism "—Their Civilization— Their Religion— Worship of the Sun— Superstitions- 
Division of the Empire— Defeat of Huascar and Enthrom^inent of Atahuallpa, . 304 

Chapter VI. Desertion of Tumbez— March Southward- S:iii Miguel Founded— The Na- 
tives enslaved— Pizarro marches in quest of the luca— Crosses the Andes— Arrival at 
Cax-amalca- Visit to Atahuallpa— His Indian Demeanor— Daring and Treacherous Reso- 
lution of Pizarro, •■....... 388 



10 CONTENTS. 

• PAaE 

Chapter VII. Ambuscade of the Spaniards— Visit of Atahuallpa— Impudeul Speech of 
the Friar Valverde — Answer of the Inca — Seizure of his Person — Massacre of his Atteud- 
ants — Plunder of his Camp — Agreement for his Ransom — His Demeanor — Expedition to 
Pachacamac — Horses sliod with Silver, ....... 314 

Chapter VIII. Spoil of the Temples of Cuzco — Arrival of A Imagro — Division of Immense 
Plunder — Scheme for the Murder of the Inca — His Trial, Sentence, and Execution — Hypo- 
crisy of Pizarro— Reflections, ........ 330 

CuAPTKR IX. Condition of Peru — March to Cuzco — Fight with the Indians — Execution of 
Challcuchima — Entrance into Cuzco — Fresh Plunder of Treasure — Coronation of the Inca 
Manco Capac — Foundation of Lima — Reception of Hernando in Spain — Disputes of Alma- 
gro and the Pizarros, .......... 326 

Chapter X. Escape of the Inca Manco — General Rising of the Penivians — Siege and Burn- 
ing of Cuzco — Defeats and Massacres of the Spaniards — The Siege of Cuzco raised — The 
Return of Almagio— Imprisonment of the Pizarros — Battle between the Rival Factions — 
Defeat and Execution of Almagro — Fate of Hernando, ..... 331 

Chapter XI. Renewed Hostility of the Inca— Expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro — Arrival at 
the Napo — Voyage of Orellana down the Amazon — Terrible Sufferings and Loss of Gon- 
zalo and his People — Their Disastrous Return — Arrogance of the Governor — "The Men of 
Chili " — Their Poverty and Distress — Their Desperate Resolution — Assassination of Pizarro 
— His Character — Sequel, . . ...... 337 

THE DISCOVERT AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 

Chapter I. Conquest of Porto Rico, by Ponce de Leon— His Voyage in Search of the 
Fountain of Youth— Discovery of Florida— His Second Expedition and Death— The At- 
tempt of Ayllon — Of Narvaez— Ingenious Ship-building— Destruction of the Expedition, 345 

Chapter II. Hernando de Soto — His Return to Spain — Appointed Governor of Cuba and 
Florida— Sails to Cuba— Expedition to Florida— March into the Countiy— Battle at Vita- 
chuoco— King Tuscaloosa — Desperate Battle at Mauvila— Burning of the Town— Victory 
of the Spaniards, .......... 349 

Chapter III. Discontent of the Cavaliers — Despondency of Soto — He marches Westward 
— Winters fit Chicaza — Battle and Burning of the Village — Arrival at the Mississippi — 
The Little Cacique of Chisca— Passage of the River — March to Arkansas— Return to the 
Mississippi, ........... 356 

Chapter IV. Haughty Message of the Cacique Quigualtanqui — Illness and Death of De 
Soto — His Burial in the Mississippi — Fate of the Survivors — Their Voyage to Mexico — 
Summary of Spanish Cruelties, . . . . . . . . 360 

THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 

Chapter I. Early Voyages to North America — The Fisheries — John Verrazano — Voyagea 
of Jacques Cartier — He Ascends the St. Lawrence— Quebec — The Chief Donnacona — 
Voyage to Hochelaga (Montreal) — Winter in Canada — Suffering — Return— Disastrous 
Voyages of Roberval and Cartier — Death of Cartier, ..... 307 

Chapter II. Samuel de Champlain — Colony of Port Royal — Quebec Founded — Expedi- 
tion against the Iroquois — Barbarous Triumph — Montreal Founded — Defeat of Champlain 
— His Perseverance in Colonization — Illiberality to the Huguenots — Miserable Condition 
of the Canadian Settlements — Champlain appointed Governor — Increase of the Colonies 
— Death of Champlain — His Cliai-acter, ....... 373 

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 

Chapter I. Tardiness of English Enterprise— Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh 
— Their Unsuccessful Expeditions — Death of Sir Humphrey — Expeditions dispatched by 
Raleigh — All Disastrous — Abandonment of the Attempt to Colonize, . . . 379 

Chapter II. Captain John Smith — His Youthful Spirit of Adventure— Serves in Holland — 
Turns Hermit — His Adventures in France — Distresses — Sails for Italy — Is flung Overboard 
— Sails to Egypt— Sea-fight— Travels in Italy, &c.— Fights against the Turks— Devices of 
Fireworks, ........... 384 



CONTENTS. . 11 

PAGE 

Chapter III.— Life of Sinitli, continued— Siege of Regall— He kills three Turks ia Single 
Combat— The Town taken— Battle of Rotenton— Smith a Slave— Sent to Tartaiy- Cruelly 
treated— Kills his Master and Escapes— Sails for Africa— Sea Fight— Returns to England, 389 

Chapter IV. New Scheme for CoUiiiizing Virginia— Ill-assorted Adventurers— The Expe- 
dition sails from England— Proceeds up James River— Intercourse with the Indians- 
Smith 111 treated— Founding of Jamestown— Excursion of Smith— King Powhatan— The 
Indians of Virginia— Their Customs and Religion, ...... 393 

Chapter V. Vindication of Smith— Famine and Great Mortality— Smith's Exertions— He 
Supports the Colony— His Expeditions and Dealings with th« Indians— Lazy Colonists- 
Smith Captured by the Indians— Conjurations over him— Carried to Powhatan— Saved by 
Pocahontas, .,....••••• 40-. 

Chapter VI. Condition of the Colony— Kindness of Pocahontas— Second Arrival of New- 
port— Traffic with Powhatan— His Subtilty— Oveneached by Smith— Blue Beads— A Sup- 
posed Gold Mine— Trouble with the Indians— Suppressed by Smith— He Explores the 
Chesapeake — Intercoui-se with the Indians — His Return, ..... 410 

Chapter VII. The Voyage of Survey resumed- Veneration of the Indians for Smith— 
Skirmishes— Return of the Expedition— Arrival of Newport— Absui-d Instructions— Poca- 
hontas and her Women— Haughtiness of Powhatan— His Coronation — Unsuccessful Expe- 
dition of Newport— Activity of Smith— Ingenious Device against Swearing, . . 416 

Chapter VIII. Disorders in the Colony— Smith's Letter— His Expedition to Surprise Pow- 
hatan— Beguiling Speeches— Flight of Powhatan — Mutual Treachery — Visit from Pocahon- 
tas— Transactions at Pamunkey— Fury of Smith — The Indians Quelled, . . . 422 

Chapter IX. Accident at Jamestown — Smith Poisoned — Great Supply of Corn — Morality 
of the Day — Trouble with the Indians— Smith takes the King of Paspahegh— Supposed 
to Revive the Dead— Wants of the Colony— Lazy Settlers— Speech of Smith- Treachery 
of the Germans, .......... 428 

Chapter X. The New Company— 111 Treatmentof Smith— Large Expedition dispatched — 
Hurricane — Arrival at Jamestown — Anarchy — Smith Restored — His Troubles with the Set- 
tlei-s- Injured by an Explosion— Leaves Virginia— His Services to the Colony— Sufferings 
after his Departure, .......... 434 

Chaptkr XI. Smith's Voyage to New England— Survey of the Coast, &c. — Villany of Thos. 
Hunt— Smith's Second Expedition — Misfortunes — Pirates — Smith Captured — His Adven- 
tures—His Escape— Return to England— His Exertions for the Settlement of New England, 438 

Chapter XII. Account of Pocahontas — Her Treacherous Capture by the English — Mar- 
ried to Mr. Rolfe— Sails for England— Smith's Letter in her Behalf— Their Interview- 
Court Favor— Her Death, ......... 443 

Chapter XIII. Smith in England — Massacre in Virginia — His Offers — Answers to the Com- 
mission—His Writings— His Death— Character and Services, .... 44b 

CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON. 

Chapter I. Account of Henry Hudson — His Voyages in Search of a Northerly Passage to 
India — Mermaids— Sails for the Dutch in the Half Moon — Lands in Maine — Cruelty to the 
Indians — Sails below Virginia— Reaches the Bay of New York. .... 455 

Chapter II. Entrance into New York Harbor — Hudson ascends the North River — Friendly 
Intercourse with the Indians— Hostilities— Return to England— Voyage to the North-west 
— Mutiny of his Crew — Hudson left to Perish, ...... 459 

Chapter III. Voyages of the Dutch — Blok and Christiaanse— New Amsterdam (New York) 
Founded — Settlements on the Delaware — Singular Incident — Massacre of the Colonists — 
Swedish Settlements— Governor Stuy vesant subdues the Swedes — Claims of the English — 
Grant of Charles II. — Expedition to New Amsterdam Seizure of the Dutch Settlements, 46C 

THE SETTLEMENT OF- NEW ENGLAND. 
Chapter 1. Peculiarity of the Puritan Settlement — Persecution of Non-conformists in Eng- 
land — Their Rt^treat into Holland —Rrsolution to seek a Ni'w llotiie — Voyage to America 
— Arrival at Cape Cod— Instilution of a Ri'publiciin Covfrnnien'., .... 47o 



12 CONTKNTS. 

PA3B 

Chapter II. The Indians of New England— Thinned by Pestilence— The Peqnots, Nana- 
gansetts, Pokanokets, Massachusetts, &c.— Their Way of Life— Superstition of the Colon- 
ists — Malignity of their Historians, ........ 4f0 

Chapter III. Dreary Aspect of New England— The Country Explored— Voyage to Piy- 
mouth Harbor— Fight with the Indians— The Landing— Building of Houses— Sufferings 
and Great Mortality — Lions in New England, ...... -ISo 

Chapter IV. Samoset— " Welcome, Englishmen "—Visit fronn Massasoit— Treaty of Friend- 
ship—Great Mortality among the Settlers— Death of Governor Carver— Election of Bradford 
—First Duel in New England— Visit to Massasoit— lyanough— Touching Incident— Chal- 
lenge from CanonicHS- His Alarm— Fortification of Plymouth, .... 459 

Chapter V. Weston's Colony— Its IMlserable Condition— Sickness of Massasoit— Cured by 
VVinslow— His Gratitude— Conspiracy of the Indians— Daring Expedition of Standish— 
Killing of the Conspirators— Weston's Colony broken up— Sufferings of the Plymouth Set- 
tlers — Seasonable Relief, ......... 495 

Chapter VI. Formation of New Settlements— Dissolute Community of Merry Mount- 
Broken up— May-pole cut down— Settlement of the Massachusetts— Boston— Character of 
the Emigrants — Amusing Regulations and Penalties — Intolerance, . . . 500 

Chapter VII. Roger Williams— His Liberality and Boldness— Persecuted by the Authori- 
ties of Massachusetts— Banished— Takes Refuge with the Indians— Lays the Foundation 
of Providence— Procures the Grant of Rhode Island, ..... 506 

Chapter VIII. Settlementof Connecticut— Pequot War— Expedition of Mason— Destruction 
of the Pequot Fort— Massacres and Subjection of the Race— Bigotry of Early Chroniclers, 510 

Chapter IX. Increase of the New England Colonies— Success of the Puritans in England — 
Persecution of the Quakers— Philip the Wampanoag— Commencement of "Philip's War" 
—Captain Benjamin Church— His Influence with the Indians— Fights and Skirmishes — 
Philip retreats Westward— Rouses the Tribes— Destruction of Villages, . . .515 

Chapter X. Success of the Indians— Attack on Hadley— Goffe, the Regicide— Many Towns 
Burned— Destruction of the Narragansett Fort— Great Cruelty to the Indians— Their Re- 
venge and Triimiph — Capture of Canonchet — His Heroic End, .... 520 

Chapter XI. Philip's War, continued— Fighting— Gradual Reduction of the Indians — 
Church Commissioned — He enlists Indian Soldiers — Pursues Philip— Defeats him — Flight 
of Philip— His Distress, ......... 525 

Chapter XII. Philip Retreats to Mount Hope — Slain in a Skirmish— Disgraceful Usage 
of his Remains— Church pursues Annawon — Takes him — Singular Scene — Philip's Regalia 
— The Wai' ended — Its Result — Treatment of Prisoners — Philip's Son — Reflections, . 531 

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

I hapter I Discovery of the Mississippi — Father Marquette and M. Joliet— Their Expe- 
dition — Friendly Indians— Sail down the Wisconsin — Enter the Mississippi — The Illinois 
Indians— Discovery of the Missouri— The Ohio— " Painted Monsters"— Danger from Sav- 
ages — They approach the Sea — Return by the Illinois— Death of Marquette, . . 539 

Chapter II. La Salle— Undertakes to Survey the Mississippi — Delayed by Mutiny — Com- 
pletes the Enterprise — Sails from France — Misses the Outlet — Enters the Hay of St. Bei-- 
„„,.(} — Unsuccessful Attempt to found a Colony — La Salle murdered by his Followers — 
Discoveries of Father Hennepin — His Lies— La Hontan, ..... 544 

Chapter III. Fate of La Salle's Colony — Enterprise of Tonti — D'Iberville's Settlements — 
Great Distress and Mortality — Gradual Survey of the Country — Law's " Mississippi Scheme" 
Its Failure — Great Destruction of Life — Founding of New Orleans — War with the Nat- 
chez and Chickasaws — Later Indian Wars of the West, ..... 543 

Pontiac'a War— The Confederacy of Michikinaqua— Tecumseh and the Prophet, . 552 

WILLIAM PKN"M. 
Chapter I. Early Life of Penn — His Religious Impressions— Joins the Sect of Quakers- 
Is turned out of Doors, and becomes a Preacher— Persicntions-Death of his Fatlier— His 
Fijat Connection with Anierican <.'<il.iiiizatii)n, ...... 555 



COXTENTS. 13 

PAGE 

CiiAHiKR II. Tlie First Charter of Pennsylvania — Conditions of Settlement — Peon's First 
Visit to America — His Celebrated Treaty with the Indians — Progress of Colonization — 
Penu's Second and Last Visit to the Colonies — His Retiwn and Death, . . . 559 

DANIEL BOONE. 

Chapter I. Parentage and Youth of Boone — His Passion for Hunting and Adventure — 
Removes to the Yadkin — His Marriage — Troubled by New Settlers — His Expedition to 
Kentucky — Adventures there — Solitary Life — His Return, and Attempt to form a Settle- 
ment — Its Failure— His Final Success — Perilous Incident, ..... 565 

Chapter II. The Settlement of Kentucky — Indian War — Attacks on Boonesborough, &c. — 
Boone taken Captive — Adopted by the Indians — His Escape — Desperate Siege of Boones- 
borough — The Indians repulsed — Defeat of the Whites — Reprisals by General Clarke — 
Disastrous Campaign of General Harmar — Defeat of St. Clair with Great Slaughter — Emo- 
tion of Washington — General Wayne's Campaign — Peace restored — Boone moves West- 
ward — Settles in Missoiu-i — His Old Age and Death, • • . . . 570 

LEWIS AND CLARKE. 

Cession of Louisiana by France — Fitting out of an Exploring Party undt^r Lewis and Clarke 
— Passage up the Missouri — Mandan Villages — Winter Encampment — Further Progress up 
the River — Uncertainty at the Mouth of Maria's River — Gates of the Rocky Mountains — 
The Forks of the Missouri : its Source — The Shoshonees — Horseback Journey through the 
Mountains — Descent of the Columbia — Winter-quarters — Return, .... 578 

TEXAS. 

Chapter I. Spanish Grant to Moses Austin— Settlement commenced by Stephen F. Austin 
— Mexican Revolution — Speculation in Mexican Gi'anls — Aggressions of Bustamente — 
First Texan Campaign — Santa Anna's Usurpation — Forces sent into Texas — Cunimence- 
ment of Hostilities, .......... 586 

Chapter II. Storming of Goliad and San Antonio — General Success of the Patriots — Inde- 
pendence Declared — Invasion by Santa Anna — Fall of the Alamo — Capture and Massacre 
of Fannin's Detachment — General Sam. Houston — Battle of San Jacinto — EstabUshmeut 
of Texan Independence, ......... 591 

OREGON. 
Voyage of Juan de Fuca — The Columbia Discovered by Heceta — American Trading Entci^ 
prises in the North-west Territory — Foundation of Astoria — Destruction of the Tonquin 
and her Crew — War with England — Treaties of 1818 and 1846 relative to Jurisdiction — 
Emigration, ........... 597 

CALIFORNIA 
Discovery and Settlement of the Peninsula of Old California — Establishment and Progress 
of Spanish Missions in the Californias — Effects of the Mexican Revolution — Acquisition 
of New California by the United States — Gold Discoveries, ... . 603 

COLONEL FREMONT'S EXPLORATIONS. 
The Expedition of 1842 to the Great South Pass— That of 1843-4 to the Columbia River, 
and the Return through Altu California— Explorations of a Southern Route across the 
Rocky Mountains, .......... 612 

THE MORMON SETTLEMENTS, 

Mormonism — Nauvoo— Persecution — Emigration to the West— Patriotic Conduct — Suffer- 
ings—Great Salt Lake Valley — Settlements — Increase — Provision for Immigration — Num- 
ber <if the Morm.ins — Their IVwer — Governnteiit — Polygamy— Relleclions, . . 617 



14 CONTENTS. 



THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. tags 

Chapter I. .Ancient Kipeditions—'Embruchis Notices of the Voyattcs of Frobisher, Co- 
lumbus, Hudson, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Davis, Weymouth, Kuight, Button, Gibbons, 
Bylol, Buffln, and otiiers, ......... 0^0 

Chapter II. Murlrni F.jpeditions—'Emhi-.ic'inK Incidents connected with the Exploring 
Voyages of Oaptaitis Sir John Ross, Sir William Edward Parry, Sii- John Franklin, Back, 
Hood, Hepburn, Richardson, mid other Distinguished Navigators, . . .634 



INTRODUCTION, 
CONTENTS,. 



THE DISCOVERERS, PIONEERS, AND SETTLERS 



OF 



NOHTH AID SOUTH AMERICA 



NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 
CHAPTER I. 

ANCIENT NORTHERN CHRONICLES EARLY SCANDINAVIAN VOYAGERS 

DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF ICELAND DISCOVERY AND SET- 
TLEMENT OF GREENLAND BY EIREK THE RED ACCIDENTAL 

DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA BY BIARNI HERIULFSON. 

[The principal authority for the following narration is found in two ancient 
Icelandic Manuscripts, entitled "An account of Eirek the Red, and of Green- 
land,'' and an " Account of Thorfinn Karisefni " (the Achiever). The authenti- 
city of these documents is indisputable, and their contents, in addition to 
strong interna] evidence of truth, are corroborated by many allusions, in other 
and conlemporaneous works, to the localities, the persons, and the adventures 
which they commemorate. The whole subject has been recently laid before 
the world in that admirable work, tlie " Antiquitates Americana;," published 
by the learned "Society of the Northern Antiquarians of Copenhagen;" and 
its claims have been fortified by Mr. J. T. Smith and other American writers with 
much ingenious argument and illustration. " That America was visited early 
in the tenth century," says Mr. Schoolcraft, perhaps the least romantic and 
most fastidious of American antiquaries, "by the adventurous Northmen from 
Greenland, and that its geography and people continued to be known to them 
so late as the twelfth century, is admitted by all who have examined with 
attention, the various documents \\hich have been published, during the last 
twelve years, by the Royal Society,"' &c. 

The restricted intercourse of Iceland with Europe, for many centuries, pre- 
vented these interesting facts from becoming generally known ; though by tiie 
intelligent nations of that island they were always considered, as now by the 
historical world, to be proved by uncjuestionable evidence. The most skep- 
tical mind could hardly fail, on examinatiun, of being convinced of the main 
truths of these narrations, by the abundance of ^Uhal internal testimony, con- 
sisting in undesigned coincidences, existing between diJJ'erent parts of tlie same 

2 



18 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEKICA. 

narrative, and the like coincidences existing between parts of distinct narratives, 
originating in different individuals, without on£ having knowledge of or reference 
to the existence of the other.'''] 

The stormy and inhospitable coasts of Scandinavia were, in 
tlie tenth century, the nurseries of a race of mariners, the most 
daring and adventurous which the world has ever seen. With- 
out compass or quadrant, or any of the aids which modern 
science has lent to navigation, they explored the northern seas, 
founded colonies, and pushed their researches far into tlie 
terrors of the Arctic zone. Their roving excursions, in which 
commerce, ph-acy, and discovery were strangely interwoven, 
contributed greatly to the geographical knowledge of their day. 
In the year 801, the wandering bark of one of these adven- 
turers, Naddodd by name, had lighted on the shores of Iceland, 
till then unknown or lost to western Europe. Fourteen years 
afterwards, that island was colonized by Ingolf, a Norwegian, 
who, with his followers, removed to this yet more desolate and 
uninviting region, and founded a prosperous settlement. 

A century later, one Thorvald and his son, the famous Eirek 
the Eed, flying from Norway to escape the consequences of a 
homicide, took refiige in Iceland. Here Thorvald died, and 
Kirek, having killed another man in a quarrel, found it neces- 
sary once more to betake himself to the ocean, lie fitted out 
a vessel, and with his adherents set sail in quest of some islands 
in the western sea, called, from their discoverer, the Eocks of 
Gunnbionn. (These islands, fi-om the gradual obstruction of 
those seas by ice, have now for several centuries been lost to 
Geography.) Sailing westward, he soon fell upon the shores 
of Greenland, (982,) and coasting to its southern extremity, fixed 
liis residence at a harbor called, fj-om its discoverer, Eireksfiord 
— (l^Jrik's creek). To the whole region which he had discovered 
he gave the name of Greenland, trusting by such an inviting 
title to allure settlers to his new colony. lie returned to Ice- 
land, and, with twenty-five ships and a large number of colon- 
ists, in 985 set sail for his residence. Of these vessels, only 
eleven reached their destination, the remainder being lost or 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 19 

driven back to Iceland. The bold and enterprising genius of 
these hardy mariners may be conjectured from the fact that, 
within two centuries after their establishment, they had made 
extensive discoveries and surveys in the icy recesses of the 
Polar Seas. Their monuments and inscriptions have been 
found as far north as latitude 73^, and it is related that they 
explored Baffin's Bay, and even Welling-ton Channel. 

With Eirek went one Heriulf, a man of authority, who had 
a son named Biarni, a youth of great courage and enterprise. 
This son was absent in Norway at the time of their departure, 
and on his return to Iceland found that his father had sailed 
for the newly-discovered land. He was troubled in his mind, 
and refused to disembark, alleging that he was determined to 
spend the winter with his father, as he had done heretofore. 
Accordingly, with his mariners, he again set sail, on the bold 
and hazardous enterprise of finding the little Icelandic settle- 
ment on the vast, desolate, and unexplored coasts of Greenland. 
Hardly was the land out of sight, when a strong north-easterly 
wind arose, accompanied by thick fogs, and for many days the 
vessel was compelled to scud before it, unable to bear up for 
the desired coast. At last the fog cleared off, and after sailing 
another day, land appeared to the westward. It was not moun- 
tainous, but woody, with some rising ground.* 

The ship was now put about, and, leaving the land on the 
left hand, they steered northerly for two days, with a favor- 
able wind. They then came upon a land low and level, and 
overgrown with woods, f The sailors asked ^arni Heriulfson 
if this was the expected country. He answered "no, for they 
told me that there are great mountains of ice in Greenland." 
Refusing to land here, despite the complaints of the mariners, 
he sailed on for three days longer with a south-west wind, and 
found a great island, high, mountainous, and covered with ice.:{; 
The aspect of the place was too forbidding to invite a landing, 
and, for four days, with a furious wind from the south-west, the 

* Probably Long Island, Nantucket, or Cape Cod. 

f Probably Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. J Probably Newfoundland. 



20 KOnTII AXD SOUTH AMERICA. 

adventurous keel sped nortlierlj. At the end of this time, by 
a rare piece of good fortune, Biarni came upon the very pro- 
montory, (Ileriulfness) in Greenland, where his father had fixed 
his residence (985). 

Besides the corroboration received from subsequent expedi- 
tions, it appears almost certain, from internal evidence, that the 
various headlands successively seen in this remarkable voyage, 
were those of north-eastern America. A ship driven by a long 
continued north-easterly gale, yet endeavoring to head to the 
westward, might well bring up on the coast as far south as 
the great promontory formed by the southern New-England 
States and Long Island. The wooded and hilly shores first 
seen, were probably those of Nantucket and Cape Cod. From 
the latter to Cape Sable on Nova Scotia the distance is but little 
over two hundred miles, which, with a favorable wind, might 
easily be accomplished in two days. From this point, accu- 
rately described as level, and covered with forests, tlirec days, 
with a south-west wind, such as tlicy had, would readily take 
the vessel to Newfoundland, whose icy mountains and preci- 
pices, overlooking the sea, are particularly mentioned. The 
six hundred miles intervening between that island and the 
southern extremity of Greenland, might certainly be passed in 
four days by a vessel running directly before a favorable gale. 
It would be difficult to point out any other tract of coast in the 
vicinity of Greenland, to which the particulars of the narrative 
would so accurately apply. America then, in all probability, 
was first made known to the European world, by the accidental 
voyage of Biarni Heriulfson, in the year 985. 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 21 



CHAPTER II. 

VOYAGE OF LEIF THE COUNTRY NAMED VINLAND VOYAGE AND 

EXPLORATIONS OF THORVALD HIS DEATH UNSUCCESSFUL 

ATTEMPT OF THORSTEIN. 

About the year 995, Biami Heriulfson made a visit to 
Norway, wliere the account of his singular voyage excited 
great interest. Four years afterwards, Leif, the eldest son of 
Eirek the Red, also went to that country on a visit to the king, 
Olaf Tryggvason. This sovereign "exhorted him," says the 
ancient narrative, "as he did all pagans who came to him, to 
embrace Christianity. To which request Leif consented with- 
out any difficulty ; and he and all his sailors were baptized." 
Thus was Christianity first introduced to the remote shores of 
Greenland. 

During this visit, Leif heard much talk of the adventures 
of Biarni, who was greatly blamed for having neglected to 
explore the country. His emulation was excited, and he 
returned to Greenland, and discoursed much with that com- 
mander concerning his adventures. Determined to prosecute 
the discovery, he purchased the ship of the latter, and manned 
it with five and thirty men, some of whom may probably have 
sailed on the former voyage. The aged Eirek had intended 
to accompany him, but, his horse stumbling on his way to 
the vessel, was deterred by an omen of such evil augury. 
Leif accordingly sailed without him, in the year 1000, and 
soon came in sight of the mountainous and dreary country last 
seen by Biarni. He cast anchor, and put out a boat. — " Having 
landed, they found no herbage. All above were frozen heights ; 
and the whole space between these and the sea was occupied by 
bare flat rocks; whence they judged this to be a barren land. 
Then said Leif, ' we will not do as Biarni did, who never set 
foot on shore: I will give a name to this land, and will call i1 
Hellu-land.' " This term signifies the land of broad stones, and 
is strikingly descriptive of the shores of Newfoundland. 



22 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Sailing onward, the adventurers soon landed on another 
point, probably the same which Biarni had passed, and which, 
from their description of its low, level appearance, with woods, 
and white sand, and a gradual rise of the coast, was, it would 
seem, some portion of Nova Scotia, Leif named it Markland 
(Woodland) and sailed on. Two days more, with a north-east 
wind, brought him to an island lying opposite to the north- 
easterly part of the main-land. This is conjectured to have 
been Nantucket, or some island in the vicinity, but considering 
the description, is somewhat difficult to locate. They landed, 
and having returned to their ship, "sailed through a bay which 
lay between an island, and a promontory running to the north- 
east," (Nantucket Bay). Here they particularly remarked the 
shoals and shallows which still distinguish the navigation of 
these parts. 

Steering westward, they "passed up a river, and thence into 
a lake." The only place to which this account seems to 
apply, is the Seaconnet Eiver, the eastern passage of Narra- 
gansett Bay, which leads to the beautiful expanse of water now 
called Mount Hope Bay. And the description of the passage 
appears to correspond. In this lake or bay, they cast anchor, 
and having determined to remain there during the winter, 
built habitations on the shore. Salmon abounded both in the 
river and the lake, and the winter appeared exceedingly mild 
to men accustomed to the rigor of a northern climate. The 
grass was only partially withered, and they supposed would 
supply cattle with food during the winter. It is, indeed, con- 
sidered probable, that, in this remote period, the climate of 
New England, in common with a great portion of North 
America, was much more genial than it is at present. 

The most striking proof, however, of the identity of this set- 
tlement is to be found in the means of ascertaining its latitude, 
which are contained in the narrative. The days and nights 
were much more equal than in Greenland or Iceland, the sun, 
on the shortest day, remaining above the horizon from half- 
past seven in the morning until half-past four in the afternoon. 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 23 

Tills circumstance, allowing for very sliglit inaccuracies and 
differences of computation, corresponds closely to the latitude 
of Mount Hope. 

When their dwellings were completed, expeditions were fre- 
quently sent out to explore the country. One Tyrker, a Ger- 
man, on a certain evening was missing, and Leif, with others, 
went in search of him. They found him overcome with joy 
at the discovery of a vine, the dehcious flavor of whose grapes 
so transported his thoughts to his native land, that at first he 
could only answer them in German. Great quantities of this 
beautiful fruit, so attractive to the inhabitants of the frozen 
north, were soon discovered, and the ship's long-boat was com- 
pletely filled with them. In joy at its delicious products, Leif 
bestowed upon the land the name of Yinland the Good. This 
profusion of wild grapes has been noticed by almost every early 
voyager to the shores of eastern America; and doubtless 
Martha's Vineyard, and the Vineyard Sound, in this imme- 
diate neighborhood, have received their names from the cir- 
cumstance. 

In the spring of 1001, having freighted their ship with tim- 
ber, the adventurers returned in safety to Greenland, and from 
this and other prosperous undertakings, their leader acquired 
the name of Leif the Lucky. His father Eirek died during 
the following winter, and he succeeded to the chief authority. 

Thorvakl, his younger brother, a man of great enterprise 
and boldness, now determined to make further exploration; 
and accordingly, in the spring of 1002, taking with him thirty 
companions, set sail for Vinland in the same ship which 
had been used by Leif. Unfortunately, owing to his death on 
the return, few particulars have reached us of this voyage, prob- 
ably the longest and most interesting of those undertaken by 
the Northmen. The adventurers arrived at Leifsbudir, (the 
dwellings of Leif,) and passed the first winter in fishing. Thence 
in the ensuing spring (1003) they explored the coast south-west- 
erly for a great distance, and it is even supposed proceeded as 
far south as the Carolinas. In the autumn they returned to- 



24 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

their settlement, having ascertained that the country was mostly 
woody, with white sandy shores. 

In the summer of 1004, Thorvald, with part of the ship's 
company, "coasted along the eastern shore, and passed round 
the land, (Cape Cod) to the northward." Here they were 
stranded, and compelled to make repairs ; and Thorvald set up 
the keel of his ship on the promontory, on which he bestowed 
the name of Kialar-ness.* Hence they sailed westward, and 
landed on another promontory, probably point Alderton, near 
Boston. The country looked so invitingly that Thorvald said, 
"This is a pleasant place, and here I should hke to fix my 
habitation" — words singularly fulfilled. Here they met with 
several of the Skrodlings or natives, whom, after the usual fash- 
ion of European discoverers, they killed. The countrymen of 
their victims soon gathered in canoes in great numbers around 
the ship, and attacked the aggressors furiously with their darts. 
They finally retired, but Thorvald was mortally wounded by 
an arrow, which, flying between the ship's side and the edge of 
his shield, buiied itself in his armpit. The dying chief com- 
manded his men "to return home as quickly as possible; but 
me you shall carry to the promontory which seemed to me so 
pleasant a place to dwell in : perhaps the words which fell from 
me shall prove true, and I shall indeed abide there for a sea- 
son. There bury me, and place a cross at my head, and another 
at my feet, and call that place for evermore Krossa-ness." 
(Cape of the Crosses). 

His companions did as he bade them, and returned with the 
sorrowful news to Leifsbudir. Here they passed the winter, 
and prepared quantities of grapes to carry home. In the spring 
of 1005, they again set sail, and arrived safely at Eireksfiord. 
The details of this protracted expedition, which would doubt- 

* Literally Keel-nose. The Noithmen were accustomed to bestow the epi- 
tliet of ness or nose upon any remarkable promontory ; and many modern 
English names have a similar derivation — thus The Naze, Neas Head, Sheer- 
■nessi Caithness, and numerous other headlands in the British islands. 



THE NOKTHMEN IN AMERICA. 25 

less have been interesting and valuable in the extreme, are 
mostly lost by the death of the commander. 

Thorstein, the third son of Eirek the Eed, next resolved to 
adventure to Vinland, and bring back the body of his brother 
Thorvald. With his wife Gudrid, and twenty-five men of dis- 
tinguished strength and stature, he put to sea, but was tossed 
about on the deep all summer, uncertain where he was. In 
the autumn he arrived at Lysufiord, on the Eastern coast of 
Q-reenland. Here, during the ensuing winter, he died, and his 
wife Gudrid (distinguished for her beauty and prudence) went 
to live with Leif, her brother-in-law, at Brattahlid. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE EXPEDITION OF THORFINN THE GOD THOR WORSHIPPED IN NEW 

ENGLAND FIGHT WITH THE SKRCELLINGS OR NATIVES 

RETURN HEROIC CONDUCT OF BIARNI GRIMOLFSON. 

In Iceland there lived one Thorfinn, surnamed Karlsefhi, 
(the Achiever,) a man of illustrious descent, and of an enter- 
prising nature. He was a prosperous merchant, and in the 
autumn of the year 1006, with two ships, and a large company 
of friends and mariners, he sailed for Greenland. Here they 
were hospitably entertained by Leif, and passed the winter in 
merry-making and festivity. Thorfinn, at this time, was mar- 
ried to Gudrid, the accomplished widow of Thorstein. 

As the spring drew near, much discourse was held on the 
recent discovery of the pleasant land of Vinland, and a fresh 
expedition was planned. Three ships were fitted out, on board 
of which went Thorfinn and his friends Snorri Tliorbrandson, 
Biarni Grimolfson and others, with Freydis the daughter of 
Eirek, her husband Thorvard, and other adventurers fi'om 
Greenland. The total number is stated in the MS. as CXL, 
which supposing the Roman numeral C to mean "the long 
hundred" (an hundred and twenty), as usual in the computa- 



26 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tions of tliat period, would represent an hundred and sixty 
souls. A variety of live stock, for tlie settlement of a colony, 
was taken on board, and in the spring of 1007, the expedition 
set sail. 

After touching on various points, they came to Helluland, 
the vast flat stones of which are particularly noticed. Thence 
they sailed to Markland, and landing on an island (probably 
Cape Sable), killed a bear, from which circumstance they 
named it Bjarney (Bear Island). Sailing southward two days 
more, they arrived at Kialarness, where they found the keel 
which Thorvald had set up on his late expedition. They 
coasted southerly along this desolate shore (Cape Cod), which, 
from its barrenness, or perhaps from a mirage occasionally seen 
there, they called Furdustrandir (long or wonderful shores). 
Coming to a bay, they put on shore two Scots whom " King Olaf 
had given to Leif, a man named Haki, and a woman named 
Hekia; they were swifter of foot than wild animals. These 
Leif had given to Thorfinn, and they were in his ship. AVhen 
they had passed beyond Furdustrandir, he put these Scots on 
shore, directing them to run over the country towards the 
south-west, and then return. They were very lightly clad. The 
ships lay to during their absence. When they returned, one 
carried in his hand a bunch of grapes, the other an ear of corn." 

Coasting the shore, they came to another bay, with an island 
opposite, Avhich, from the force of the currents, they called 
Straumfiord, or Bay of Streams (probably Buzzard's Bay). 
Here they disembarked, and, finding good pasturage for their 
cattle, resolved to pass the winter. In the autumn a son was 
born to Thorfinn and Gudrid, probably the first native Amer- 
ican of European descent. This child, Snorri Thorfinnson, 
became the progenitor of a long line of descendants illustrious 
in the histories of Iceland and Denmark — among them the 
learned Bishop Thorlak Runolfson, his grandson, and pi'obably 
the original compiler of these voyages, and, in our own day, 
the famous Thorwaldsen, perhaps the greatest sculptor of mod- 
ern times. 



THE NORTHMElSr IN AMERICA. 27 

The winter proved very severe, and these hardy colonists 
were reduced to much suffering for want of food. A singuLar 
incident ilkistrates the superstition of the times, and the recent 
conversion of tliese people to Christianity. It is mentioned, 
at the commencement of the ancient narrative, that there sailed 
in the expedition one "Thorhall, commonly called the Ilunter, 
who had, for many years, been the huntsman of Eirek during 
the summer, and his steward during the winter. This Thor- 
hall was a man of gigantic stature and of great strength, and 
swarthy in complexion ; he was a man of very few words, and 
when he did speak, it was chiefly in a railing way: to Eirek 
he had ever given evil counsel; and he was besides a very 
iudiflercnt Christian. He possessed, however, much knowl- 
edge of uninhabited lands." 

In this time of privation, when their prayers appeared unan- 
swered, the ill-omened Thorhall was missing, and for three 
days search was made for him in vain. "On the morning of 
the fourth day, Thorfinn and Biarni Grimolfson found him 
lying on the top of a rock. There he lay, stretched out, with 
his eyes open, blowing through his mouth and nose, and 
mumbling somewhat to himself They asked him why he had 
gone there. He answered, — that it was no business of theirs: 
that he was old enough to take care of himself without their 
troubling themselves with his affairs. They asked him to 
return home with them, which he did. 

"A short time after, a wliale was cast ashore, and tliey all 
ran down eagerly to cut it up; but none knew what kind of 
whale it was; even Thorfinn, thougli well acquainted with 
whales, did not know it. The cooks dressed the whale, and 
they all eat of it, l)ut were all taken ill immediately afterwards. 
Then said Thorhall 'Now you see that Thor is more ready to 
give aid than your Christ. This food is the reward of a hymn 
which I composed to Thor, my god, who lias rarely forsaken 
me!' "When they heard this, none would eat any more; and 
so they threw all _ the remainder of the flesh from the rocks, 
commendinoj themselves to God." 



28 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

As the spring came on, Thorfiun resolved to sail south-west- 
erly, and explore the coast. But Thorhall (who seems to have 
been grievously disappointed in his hope of finding grapes and 
wine) with only eight companions, undertook to sail around 
Kialarness, and explore in that direction. It is said, however, 
that he was driven by westerly gales to the coast of Ireland, 
and there, according to the report of the traders, with his com- 
panions, was reduced to slavery. 

Thorfiun and all the rest (151 in number), in the spring of 
1008, set sail, and soon came to the deserted dwelhngs of Leifs- 
budir. This region they called Hop. The Indian name of 
this place is Haup, and the present appellation of the "lake" 
is Mount Hope Bay — certainly a curious coincidence, if nothing 
more. After remaining here a few days, the Northmen beheld 
a great number of canoes approaching up the bay. From these 
landed many of the natives, "swarthy in complexion, short and 
savage in appearance, with ugly hair, great eyes, and broad 
cheeks." When they had stayed some time, and gazed at the 
strangers with astonishment, they departed, and retired beyond 
the promontory to the south-west (Bristol Neck). 

The winter proved very mild, and their cattle remained 
without shelter. On the following spring (1009) they again 
saw a multitude of canoes coming round the promontory, and 
on their arrival, much bartering was carried on; the Indians 
readily giving their skins for strips of red cloth, and espe- 
cially for milk porridge^ which some of the women prepared, 
and with which they seemed excessively delighted. Finally 
all were frighted away by a bull, which suddenly came in from 
the woods, and, bellowing lustily, drove them to their canoes. 

Three weeks afterwards, a vast number of canoes were seen 
coming from the same direction, evidently with a hostile inten- 
tion. The savages " howled right sliarply " (probably the war- 
whoop), and gave other tokens of defiance. Thorfiun and his 
company raised the red shield, the signal of war, and a combat 
commenced. The Noithmen retreated to some rocks, behind 
which thev fouglit stoutly, though greatly annoyed by the 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 29 

slings and arrows of their numerous assailants. Freydis, tlie 
daughter of Eirek, seeing her countrymen fly, rushed out of 
her dwelling, and upbraided them. She was pursued by the 
Skroellings, but could not run far, being near her time. "She 
saw a man lying dead. This was Thorbrand, the son of Snorri, 
in whose head a flat stone was sticking. His sword lay naked 
by his side. This she seized, and prepared to defend herself. 
The Skroellings came up with her. She struck her breast with 
the naked sword, which so astonished the SkroeUings, that they 
fled back to their canoes, and rowed off as fast as possible." 

A considerable number of the natives fell in this contest; and 
it is singular that the English settlers of the country found 
among the Indians in this place a tradition that "there came a 
wooden house, and men of another country in it, swimming 
up the Kiver Assoonet, who fought the Indians with mighty 
success," &c. This is what is now called the Taunton Eiver, 
flowing into Mount Hope Bay. 

Considering this place too dangerous for a habitation, on 
account of the enmity of the natives, Thorfinn and his com- 
panions prepared to depart. After making some exploration 
to the northward (probably up Providence River) they returned 
to Straumfiord, where they found abundant supplies. Hence 
Thorfinn went with one of the ships around Kialarness, in 
search of Thorhall, but without success. A singular account 
is given of a uniped^ or one-legged animal (probably an Indian) 
which the Northmen met on this expedition, and which shot 
an arrow at them. They supposed, with probable correctness, 
the hills which they saw from the south-west of Cape Cod Bay 
to be' the same which are visible from IVfount Hope. 

They passed the winter at Straumfiord, and in the spring 
of 1010, set sail for Greenland. On their way, they touched 
at Markland, and took two young Skroellings, whom they 
instructed and baptized. Thorfinn and his crew readied 
Eireksfiord in safety; but the ship of Biarni Grimolfson was 
driven out to sea, and, being bored with worms, began to sink. 
Lots were cast, and Biarni, with lialf the sliip's company, gained 



30 XOllTII AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tlie privilege of taking to the boat. Moved, however, by tlie 
Jaraentations of a 3'oiuig Icelander, wlio had been entrusted to 
his protection, the generous chief relinquished his chance of 
life. "He replied, 'Do you come down into the boat, and I 
will go up again into the ship ; for I see that you are fond of 
life.' So Biarni went into the ship again, and this man came 
down into the boat. Then those in the boat went on till they 
came to land, when they told all. It was generally believed 
that Biarni and his companions perished in that wormy ocean, 
for nothing more was ever heard of them." 

Another expedition, in 1011, was made to Yinland, by Frey- 
dis and her husband, accompanied by some Norway merchants. 
But Thorfinn and his wife, having gained much renown by 
their adventures, settled in Iceland, where they became the 
founders of a numerous and distinguished race. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MENTION OF VINLAND IN VARIOUS MSS. PROBABLE INTERCOURSE 

BETWEEN IRELAND AND AMERICA STORY OF BIORN ASBRAND- 

SON ICELANDIC AND OTHER REMAINS IN AMERICA 

A SUPPOSED WELSH COLONY. 

In the ancient Norse manuscripts, for several centuries, 
references to Vinland ai'e found, and the existence of that 
country seems to have been generally known to their authors. 
Thus in an exceedingly ancient ballad of the Faroe isles, Hol- 
dan and Finn, two ])rinces of Sweden, are fabled, among other 
marvels, to have fought the many kings of this mysterious land, 
for the love of Ingeborg, the daughter of the king of Ireland. 
In the "Account of Eirek the Ked and of Greenland" it is 
mentioned tliat after the voyage of Thorfinn, "Expeditions to 
Vinland became now very frequent matters of consideration, 
for that expedition was commonly esteemed both lucrative 
and honorable." In the "Annals of Iceland," an authentic 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 31 

and contemporary autliority, it is stated that in 1121, Eirek, 
the first bishop of Greenland, sailed from that country to Vin- 
land ; from which circumstance it seems probable that a colony, 
over which his pastoral care extended, had been founded there. 
In the same authority it is cq,pually mentioned, that in 1317 a 
Greenland vessel, on her return from Markland (Nova Scotia) 
was driven to the shores of Iceland. 

In the year 1285, two brothers, Adalbrand and Thorvald, 
whose names are well known in Icelandic history, accidentally 
touched upon a place which, from the situation and description, 
could be uo other than the Helluland of the Greenlanders ; and 
the name which they bestowed on it, " Nyja fundu Land " (New- 
foundland), sufficiently indicates that this was considered but 
the rediscovery of a land formerly known. The fact that Cabot, 
in his voyage of 1197, called it by the same name, is fliir pre- 
sumptive evidence that he was acquainted with these facts. 
Eirek, the king of Norway, was interested in the account of 
this voyage, and in 1288, sent out one Rolf expressly to explore 
the country. The particulars of his expedition have not sur- 
vived, but it is supposed that he made extensive explorations. 

It is probable that many adventurous excursions were made 
to the northern shores of America, which have never been 
recorded, and others, the records of which have perished or 
remain obscurely in manuscript collections. In fact, there 
seems little doubt that an occasional, if not a regular inter- 
course was kept up v/ith these places for some centuries after 
their discovery, and that temporary colonics were planted there. 

The gradual disuse and almost total oblivion of this intei"- 
course was involved in the fote of Greenland, wliich had hith- 
erto been the connecting link between America and the old 
world. That colony, after a prosperous existence of four hun- 
dred years, was finally shut off from Europe by that vast and 
extending barrier of ice which, with the increasing coldness of 
the seasons, advanced southward from the pole. "There is," 
says Mr. J. T. Smith, "a remarkable obscurity, it may be termed 
mystery, hanging over the fate of the colony in Greenland. 



32 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

The last bishop was appointed in 1406. Since that time the col- 
ony has 7iever been heard of. When the colony was last heard 
of, in the loth century, it consisted of 280 villages. * * 
Certain it is, that while extensive ruins have been found all 
along the line of the ancient settlements, no living traces of the 
colony itself have ever been discovered." For more than three 
centuries, these desolate shores were hardly visited by a keel 
except that of the adventurous whaler. In 1721, colonies 
were again planted there, by Denmark, and the region has since 
received some degree of attention. 

When Iceland was first settled by the Northmen, a small 
colony of Christians who are supposed to have come from 
Ireland, was found there. The intercourse between these two 
islands became frequent, and it would not be unlikely that in 
voyages of such length, through tempestuous seas, a bark 
should occasionally be driven to the coasts of America. That 
such was the case, appears probable from several ancient Norse 
records, all treating of persons historically known to have 
existed. In an old geographical work, the following description 
occurs : 

"To the south of habitable Greenland there are uninhabited 
and wild tracts, and enormous icebergs. The country of the 
Skroellings lies beyond these : Markland beyond this, and Vin- 
land the Good beyond the last. Next to this and something 
beyond it, lies Albania, that is Huitramannaland, whither, 
formerly, vessels came from Ireland. There several Irishmen 
and Icelanders saw and recognized Ari, the son of Mar and 
Kotlu of Reykianess, concerning whom nothing had been heard 
for a long time, and who had been made their chief by the 
inhabitants of the land." This Ari Marson is elsewhere 
described as having been driven in a tempest (983) to the 
region called Huitramannaland (white man's land), or Irland 
it Mikla (Ireland the Great), which lay far to the west of Ire- 
land,- and may perhaps have been the southern or middle 
states of America. 

Another, and most romantic and interesting story, is that 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 33 

of Biorn Asbrandson, an Icelandic champion of great fame 
and courage, distinguished for his achievements in Denmark 
and Pomerania. Eeturning to his native country, he was 
involved in an unfortunate attachment to Thurid, the wife of 
one of the chief men in his neighborhood. In the frays occa- 
sioned by the jealousy of the latter, Biorn killed several men, 
and found it necessary to quit the island. He set sail about 
the year 998, "with a north-east wind, which wind prevailed 
for a great part of that summer. Of the fate of that ship noth- 
ing was for a long time heard." The narrative of "Gudleif 
Gudlaugson" furnishes a singular sequel to his adventurous 
career. About the year 1030, this Gudleif, who was a noted 
merchant and sea-warrior, had made a voyage to Dublin. 
"On his return to Iceland (says the narrative) he fell in with 
north-east and east winds, and was driven far into the ocean 
towards the south-west and west, so that no land was seen, the 
summer being now far spent. Many prayers were offered by 
Gudleif and his men that they might escape their perils; and 
at length they saw land. It was of great extent, and they knew 
not what land it was." 

On landing, they were seized by the inhabitants, and carried 
to a great assembly, where their fate was to be decided. They 
were rescued, however, by an aged, gray headed man, to whom 
all present paid the greatest deference. This man addressed 
them in the Norse tongue, and made many inquiries concern- 
ing the people of Ireland, and especially concerning Thurid, 
to whom he sent a golden ring as a token. He likewise deliv- 
ered to Gudleif an excellent sword for her son Kiartan, (of 
whom Biorn had been commonly reputed the father.) He 
refused to tell his name, saying that he wished none of his rel- 
atives or friends to come to such a dangerous coast — and withal 
advised the immediate departure of his guests. 

They sailed, and in the course of the autumn reached Ireland, 

whence in the spring they proceeded to Iceland. The ring 

was delivered to Thurid, and all concluded that the giver could 

be no other than the long-lost Biorn Asbrandson. The region 

3 



34 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

where lie dwelt, judging from tlie course of the vessel, may 
have been Georgia or the Carolinas ; and the description of the 
coast given by Gudleif, strikingly corresponds to the shores of 
that portion of America. 

It has been considered probable, by several authors, that the 
Northmen established a colony, of considerable duration, some- 
where on the shores of North America. It is known that 
Thorfinn and his company took out live stock, for the purpose 
of making a permanent settlement; and while his return is 
duly chronicled, no mention is made of that of Thorbrandson 
and others of his companions. The fact, too, that Bishop Eirek 
sailed from Greenland to these parts, would seem to indicate 
that some objects of his pastoral care might yet be lingering 
in Vinland. 

Among the various conjectured memorials of the European 
races found in America, the most famous is the celebrated 
"Written Eock," on the Assoonet or Taunton river, near Digh- 
ton, Mass. For nearly two centuries it has been an object of 
gi'eat curiosity and interest; and from the year 1680 to the 
present time, numerous copies of the inscrij)tion have been 
taken. The more sanguine of our antiquarians have consid- 
ered the entire pictograph as Icelandic, and have supposed that 
the name of Thorfinn, and the number of his men, were yet 
distinctly to be traced. Mr. Schoolcraft, however, who has 
given the latest and most correct description of it, has, by his 
own knowledge and that of his Indian interpreter Chingwauk, 
sufficiently proved that nearly all these mysterious symbols 
are of an Algonquin character. There remains, however, 
besides these, a genuine Icelandic inscription, which is believed 
to represent, without question, "one hundred and fifty-one 
men" — the precise number, it may be remembered, of which 
the expedition of Thorfinn consisted, after the departure of 
Thorhall and his companions. Other characters, in which over- 
zealous researchers have imagined the name of the leader, yet 
remain to be deciphered. It is very remarkable, that in the 
Indian portion, representing a victory, there is the figure of a 



THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA. 35 

•huge war-club, or rather halista, wliich the Icelandic MS. 
describes the Skroellings to have used in their engagement — and 
it has been conjectured that the natives, seeing the original 
inscription of their invaders, may have added a symbolic com- 
mentary of their own. 

There is an ancient stone building at Newport, resting upon 
pillars, which has been considered as an erection of the North- 
men. Some peculiarities in its construction, however, would 
seem to assign to it a later date, and its resemblance to similar 
structures in England, used as windmills, perhaps warrants 
the popular appellation, which it has long borne, of "the old 
stone mill," 

The most extraordinary and authentic document of this 
nature, however, is a small stone, covered with a Celtic inscrip- 
tion, which has been excavated at a depth of seventy feet, from 
one of the highest mounds of the West. This remarkable 
relic, as yet undeciphered, may throw some light upon the early 
migrations of European adventurers to these shores. 

Mr. Catlin, the distinguished painter and historian of the 
Western Indians, has written a curious and ingenious disser- 
tation on the origin of the famous Mandan tribe, lately and 
suddenly extinct from the ravages of the small-pox. This 
once numerous and warlike people differed widely from the 
nations around them, both in appearance and characteristics. 
Though evidently modified, from intermixture, by some abo- 
riginal blood, their complexions were light, and their hair 
strongly resembling that of Europeans. Their domestic arti- 
cles were of superior manufacture, and their canoes, formed of 
hides stretched upon a frame, were almost exactly hke the 
"coracles" even now used in Wales. From these and other 
circumstances, and especially from a most extraordinary resem- 
blance of their language to that of the Welsh, Mr. Catlin thinks 
it probable that they were the descendants of those venturous 
emigrants who, early in the fourteenth century, put to sea 
in ten ships, under Madoc, Prince of Wales, and who have 
been supposed to have landed in some part of America. lie 



36 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

has traced them, by their pecuhar remains, from the Gulf of 
Mexico up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers ; and attributes to 
them the construction of many of those mounds and fortifica- 
tions, evincing a skill in engineering far beyond the capacity 
of the aborigines. He supposes that, after a flourishing and 
prosperous existence for a considerable period, these intruders 
were destroyed by the combined hostility of the aboriginal 
tribes ; that only those escaped who were allied with the natives 
by marriage ; and that from such a race of half-breeds the late 
tribe of the Mandans originated. 



THE DISCOVERY OT AMERICA, 

BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS — HIS MARITIME AND GEOGRAPHICAL 

ACQUIREMENTS THE GENERAL PASSION FOR DISCOVERY 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIS SCHEME. 

" My purpose holds 

To sail beyond the sunset and the baths 
Of all the western stars until I die. 
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down — 
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles." — 
Tennyson's Ulysses, 

"But thee, Columbus, bow can I but remember? but loue? but admire.^ 
Sweetly may those bones rest, sometimes the Pillars of that Temple, whore 
so diuine a spirit resided ; which neyther want of former example, nor pub- 
like discouragements of domesticall or forren states, nor priuate insultations 
of prowd Spaniards, nor length of time (which usually deuoureth the best 
resolutions) nor the vnequal Plaines of huge vnknowne Seas, nor grassie 
fields in Neptune's lap, nor importunate whisperings, murmurings, threatenings 
of enraged companions, could daunt: O name Colon, worthy to be named 
vnto the world's end, which to the world's end hast conducted Colonies: or 
may I call thee Colombo for thy Doue-like simplicilie and patience? the true 
Colonna or Pillar, whereon our knowledge of this new world is founded, 
the true Christopher which, with more than Giant-like force and fortitude hast 
carried Christ his name and religion, through vnknowne Seas, to vnknowne 
Lands." — Purchas his Pilgrimage. 

Little authentic is known of the nativity or the youth of 
Christopher Columbus — a name the mightiest in the annals of 
navigation and discovery. The honor of his birth has beeu 



88 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

claimed by almost as many cities as formerly strove for that 
of Homer's. It seems, however, satisfactorily proved that he 
was a native of the ancient and renowned city of Genoa — a city 
which, in all her wealth of maritime glory, has ever regarded 
as her choicest jewel the nativity of the great adventurer. He 
was born about the year 1435, of poor, but respectable parents, 
his father, like Shakspeare's, being an obscure wool-comber. 
Two younger brothers, Bartholemew and Diego, and a sister 
succeeded him. The Itahan name of his family is Colombo — 
a name which (according to the custom of the time) he latinized 
into Columbus, and which, on his adoption into Spain, he 
changed into Colon, according to the language of that country. 

At an early age, he acquired considerable skill in arithmetic, 
drawing, and painting; and for a brief time enjoyed the 
advantages of education at Pavia, then one of the most reputed 
seats of learning in Europe. His education, like that of many 
of the Genoese youth, was principally of a maritime tendency. 
"Hee beganne of a chylde to bee a maryner,"-says one, and to 
the rude geometry, geography, and astronomy which, during a 
brief period, he acquired at this celebrated school, the world 
is probably indebted for the most momentous of discoveries. 
These studies, however, were soon interrupted. At the age of 
fourteen, the young adventurer, like great numbers of the youth 
of his city, went to sea, and for many years pursued an obscure, 
though active and perilous career, in the commerce and wars 
of the Mediterranean. 

That sea, always the scene of contention among the nations 
of southern Europe, was at this time especially the theatre of 
dispute between the powerful maritime republics of Venice 
and Genoa, the Turks, and the kingdoms of France and Spain. 
Columbus appears to have sailed with two Genoese commanders 
of his own name, of some celebrity, and probably his relations ; 
but for a long series of years only a faint glimpse of his career 
can be discerned. It is known that he held a separate com- 
mand under Ken6, king of Naples, and was often engaged in 
the -Stirring and hazardous adventures of the day. He was 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 89 

also, it is supposed, employed for some time in commerce with 
the eastern ports of the Mediterranean. 

A romantic, though unauthenticated story is told of his 
arrival on the shores of Portugal. Commanding a vessel under 
the admiral Colombo, he was engaged, it is said, in a desperate 
sea-fight with certain Venetian galleys, not far from Cape St. 
Vincent, By the conflagration of his vessel he was compelled 
to betake himself to the water, and, with the help of an oar, 
succeeded in gaining the land, two leagues distant. It is cer- 
tain, however, that he journeyed to Portugal long before the 
occurrence of this fight ; drawn thither, like other adventurous 
spirits, by the fame of the brilliant discoveries already achieved 
by the enterprising genius of Prince Henry. 

That high-souled and sagacious sovereign had for some time 
devoted his eager attention to maritime research, and to the 
advancement of discovery. He had revived the sciences 
essential to geography and navigation, and was now deeply 
engaged in the splendid enterprise of the circumnavigation of 
Africa. Much of the African coast had already been explored 
under his auspices, and the Azores and the Cape de Verd 
islands had been added to the possessions of civilized man- 
kind. This illustrious prince, however, died in the year 1473, 
having laid the foundation of that wonderful series of maritime 
achievements which distinguishes, above all other epochs, the 
close of the fifteenth century. His favorite object, a few years 
afterwards, was accomplished, under his successor, John II., by 
the famous Vasquez de Gama. 

At this period (1470) when the noble fever for adventure 
and geographical discovery was slowly attaining its height, 
Columbus, already in middle age, arrived on the shores of 
Portugal. He was of a grave, dignified and commanding pres- 
ence — the result of deep reflection, hazardous experience, and 
the habit of authority. His hair was already quite white, and 
his countenance at the same time animated and deeply thought- 
fob His manners were gentle, courteous, and refined; and he 
was deeply attached to the ceremonies of his church, as well 



40 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

as to tlie liiglier principles of devotion and accountability of 
•which they are but the representatives. 

Soon after his arrival, he was married to the daughter of 
Palestrello, a distinguished navigator in the service of Prince 
Henry, and once governor of Porto Santo. 

The widow of this mariner, with whom Columbus and his 
wife resided, gave him the charts, journals, and other sea-faring 
relics of her husband. His interest in African discovery was 
thus vividly awakened, and he occasionally sailed to that coavSt 
as well as to the islands, residing for some time with his wife 
at Porto Santo, the lesser of the Madeiras, He was, for the 
most part, in straitened circumstances, and procured a living 
by making maps and charts — no mean accomplishment, at a 
time when the zeal for geography was highly excited, and when 
almost all representations of the woi'ld were lamentably defective 
and imaginative — when the ocean was represented as the final 
boundary of all things, and any land little known to the artist 
was pictured out as filled with alarming and fajjulous monsters. 
His skill in this accomplishment soon procured him considera- 
tion among the most scientific men of the time. 

It is not easy to conjecture at what time that grand concep- 
tion, destined to haunt the long, glorious, and unhappy remain- 
der of his life, first entered the mind of Columbus. It was 
probably slowly elaborated by the continual suggestions of his 
occupation, by his geometrical knowledge, and by the frequent 
reports of excited voyagers and adventurers. Since the dis- 
covery of the Western Islands of Africa, many ancient legends 
had been revived, and frequent reports had been spread of 
lands seen still further in the westward. The fabulous Atlantis 
— Antilla — The Seven Cities — and the island of St. Brandon, 
were still believed in, and were frequently laid down on the 
most authentic maps and charts. Continual, though erroneous, 
accounts were given by tempest-tossed mariners of imaginary 
islands seen still farther in the recesses of the ocean. Alike 
hampered and encouraged by a vast mass of fanciful conjec- 
ture and imaginative tradition, his ardent and practical mind 




< II H I s 7 o /■ // a; « { {, I. V M li IS. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 41 

was slowly forcing its way to a j&xed theory and an immutable 
purpose. 

He was a firm believer in the sphericity of the earth, but 
from the want of geometrical data, supposed it much smaller 
than the reality. As early as 147-i, he was in correspondence 
with Toscanelli, an eminent learned Florentine, who applauded 
his intention of sailing westward, and who considered the dis- 
tance from Portugal to India, by a western route, to be only 
four thousand miles. The opinions of the ancient Greek and 
Eoman geographers strengthened this conclusion, and the won- 
derful narrative of Marco Polo, describing the vast extent of 
the Orient, convinced him still further of his proximity to the 
western shores of Europe. Moreover the Portuguese voyagers 
and colonists of the islands had occasionally seen the evidences 
of other lands in objects drifted from the westward — huge reeds 
and pine-trees, pieces of carved wood, and bodies of men of 
a race unknown to Europe. 

Still, all was uncertainty. The mysterious ocean intervening 
between the Asian and the European shores, might be of vast 
and innavigable extent, and filled with new and unheard-of 
terrors. The sail might be spread for those unknown regions, 
but who could tell if it should ever retrace the hazardous way 
— if fearfal seas and currents would not ingulph the audacious 
keel, or some fixed and awful law of nature forbid the possibil- 
ity of return. These very doubts and marvels served, perhaps, 
only as new incentives to a mind alike daring, romantic, and 
practical. It is certain that from the time when the project of 
sailing westward to solve the grand problem of the earth first 
entered the mind of this obscure wanderer, there commenced 
a career of patience, perseverance, sagacity, and courage, such 
as the world, it is probable, had never before witnessed. — • 
Though mistaken in the particulars of his geographical plan, 
he would seem from the first to have had a certain premonition 
of the vastness and real grandeur of his future discovery. 

"When Columbus," says Mr. Irving, "had formed his the- 
ory, it is singular the firmness with which it became fixed in 



42 NORTH AND SOUXn AMERICA. 

his mind, and the effect it produced upon his character and 
conduct. He never spoke with doubt or hesitation, but with 
as much certainty as if his eyes beheld the promised land. 
No trial or disappointment could afterwards divert him from 
the steady pursuit of his object. A deep religious sentiment 
mingled with his meditations, and gave them at times a tinge 
of superstition, but it was of a sublime and lofty kind. He 
looked upon himself as standing in the hand of heaven, chosen 
from among men for the accompli shrnent of its high purpose. 
He read, as he supposed, his contemplated discovery foretold 
in holy writ, and shadowed forth darkly in the mystic revela- 
tions of the prophets. The ends of the earth were to be 
brought together, and all nations and tongues and languages 
united under the banners of the Kedeemer. This was to be 
the triumphant consummation of his enterprise, bringing the 
remote and unknown regions of the earth into communion 
with Christian Europe, carrying the light of the true faith 
into benighted and pagan lands, and gathering their countless 
nation under the holy dominion of the church." 

But a long and lamentable experience of delay, disappoint- 
ment, and neglect was destined to intervene between the con- 
ception and the accomplishment of this magnificent idea. The 
world, united, enlightened, and emboldened by science, can 
now look back with wonder upon a spectacle strange indeed — 
the stranger that it should have had so many and so miserable 
parallels — a great soul tendering in vain to the human race 
the highest achievement of its courage and intellect, and wan- 
dering from kingdom to kingdom, with the scarce-heeded ofifer 
of a hemisphere. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 43 



CHAPTER II. 

DEALINGS WITH THE COURT OF PORTUGAL TREACHERY OF JOHN II. 

COLUMBUS JOURNEYS INTO SPAIN HIS POVERTY HIS APPLICATION 

TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA THE COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA. 

Years passed by, and Columbus, still obscure, but adven- 
turous, was deeply cberisliing liis grand sclieme, and brooding 
on the means for its fulfilment. In 1477, according to an 
account in one of his letters, he voyaged a hundred leagues 
beyond Thule (Iceland), his curiosity still leading him to dis- 
tant seas. A splendid era, however, was approaching. With 
the revival of letters, and the mighty invention of the press, 
maritime discovery, which for some time had languished, 
received a new and forcible impetus. Another enlightened 
and sagacious sovereign filled the throne of Portugal. John 
II., who, in the year 1481, assumed the crown of that king- 
dom, had imbibed from his grand uncle. Prince Henry, the 
generous passion for discovery and colonization. Vague and 
chimerical projects, indeed, were among the first fruits of the 
newly awakened enthusiasm. The idea of converting the 
Grand Khan of Tartary, long a favorite object with piou« sov- 
ereigns, appears to have been still entertained; and the Por- 
tuguese king actually sent emissaries in quest of Prester John, 
a fabulous Christian potentate of the distant Orient. The more 
practical and feasible project of circumnavigating Africa was 
resumed; and by the king's direction, his scientific men pro- 
ceeded to experiments, which resulted in the invention of the 
astrolabe, or quadrant, by which, in the remotest seas, the lati- 
tude might be ascertained. 

Immediately after this admirable invention had been made, 
Columbus obtained an audience before the sovereign, and 
unfolded his grand scheme, as assuring the most direct and the 
quickest route to the shores of India — at that time the main 
object of Portuguese enterprise. Jle proposed to sail due wi\st- 
ward, and supposed that he should first light upon the island 



44: NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of Cipango, or Japan, of wliicli Marco Polo, from hearsay, had 
given a glowing and exaggerated account. The terms which 
he demanded for making the proposed discovery, were of a 
princely nature, probably the same which he afterwards obtained 
of the Spanish sovereigns. There is something singular in the 
confidence and pertinacity with which he adhered to these 
magnificent demands. "He conferred with sovereigns almost 
with a feeling of equality. His views were princely and 
unbounded ; his proposed discovery was of empires ; nor would 
he ever, even after long delays, repeated disappointments, and 
under the pressure of actual penury, abate what appeared to 
be extravagant demands for a mere possible discovery."* 

At the very outset of his undertaking, he was beset by the 
most unworthy opposition, "by reason whereof," says an old 
writer, "he was very sad and pensive; but yet was not dis- 
couraged or despaired of ye hope of his goode aduenture." 
The learned men to whom John referred the project, treated 
it as vain and chimerical. The king, unsatisfied, summoned 
his council, by whom it was in turn condemned. Still uneasy, 
he listened too willingly to a perfidious stratagem, suggested, 
it is said, by his confessor, the bishop of Ceuta. Columbus 
was mvited to furnish the council with all his plans and charts 
for the purpose of examination. The requisite information 
thus obtained, John, with incredible meanness, dispatched a 
vessel on the proposed track, thus hoping to gain the magnif- 
icent prize, and to defraud the inventor of his reward. But the 
heroic zeal, patience, and energy of its projector were wanting 
to the venturous expedition. The weather was stormy, and the 
crew, discouraged, put back into Lisbon. 

Justly indignant at this unworthy attempt to rob him of the 
fruits of his enterprise, Columbus resolved to leave the country. 
His wife was dead, and, rejecting a fresh attempt at negotiation 
by the king, he secretly quitted Portugal, taking with him his 
little son Diego (148-1). Where he passed the following year 
is unknown ; but it has been said that in that interval he offered 

* Irvinsf's Life of Columbus. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 45 

liis sclieme and his services to his native republic of Genoa, 
which, however, exhausted by warfare, refused to entertain 
them. Such, indeed, was the obscurity of his life at this 
epoch, that nothing certain can be alleged of his movements. 
His reappearance was in poverty and distress. 

Near Palos, a little sea-port of Andaluzia in Spain, still stands 
an ancient convent, of the order of St. Francis, called Santa 
Maria of Kabida. One day a stranger, travelling on foot with 
his little boy, stopped at the gate of this convent, and asked 
of the porter a little bread and water for his child. The worthy 
prior, Juan Perez, chancing to pass, was struck with his 
demeanor, and still more with his conversation and acquire- 
ments. Himself a man of much information, the pious recluse 
was fired with admiration at the grand concej^tions of his guest : 
many conferences were held in the old convent, where Colum- 
bus was honorably entertained; and it was resolved that he 
should try his fortunes at the Spanish court. Accordingly, 
armed with a letter to Talavera, the queen's confessor, in the 
spring of 1486, he set out for Cordova, where the sovereigns 
of Castile and Arragon were making preparations for the war 
with the Moors of Granada. 

. By the marriage of Ferdinand of Arragon to Isabella of 
Castile, the greater part of Spain had now become, as it were, 
consolidated into a single kingdom. The cold, ambitious, and 
selfish policy of Ferdinand was in some measure illustrated by 
the more generous and noble spirit of his consort; and in all 
respects their joint reign has justly been considered as the most 
brilliant and successful of any in European history. 

The zealous patronage which the queen had already bestowed 
on literature, science, and the general distribution of knowledge, 
seemed to promise the fairest opportunity for the advancement 
of this new and admirable project; yet such was the pressure 
of circumstances, and such the influence of ignorance and big- 
otry, that weary years were yet to be spent by the adventurer 
in urging on the court his magnificent proposals. At first he 
could not even obtain an audience. The sovereigns were 



46 NORTU AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

engrossed with military preparation: the confessor regarded 
his plan as chimerical : and his attempt seemed almost hopeless. 
" Becanse hee was a straunger, and went but in simple apparel, 
nor otherwise credited then by the letter of a gray fryer, they 
beleeved him not, neyther gave eare to his woordes, whereby 
he was greatly tormented in his imagination." Indeed, the 
career of war and activity in which the Spanish court was at 
this time involved, precluded the possibility of bestowing the 
requisite attention or providing the requisite means for such 
an undertaking. 

During the stirring events which signalized this year, he 
remained at Cordova, supporting himself, it is supposed, by 
making maps, and gradually, by his intelligence and eloquence, 
acquiring powerful friends and advocates. Among these were 
Quintanilla, comptroller of finance of Castile, Geraldini, the 
papal nuncio, and, above all, Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza, arch- 
bishop of Toledo and grand cardinal of Spain. 

The intercession of this powerful prelate finally procured 
Columbus the desired audience. He appeared before the sov- 
ereigns with great modesty, yet with self-possession, and so 
engaged their interest, that a grand commission was appointed 
to decide upon his claims at the university of Salamanca. 

At this famous seat of learning, therefore, was assembled a 
council of the most learned and distinguished scholars in the 
kingdom. Like nearly all professors of learning at the time, 
thev were, for the most part, friars and prelates of the church, 
and perhaps more competent to detect the smallest flaw of 
heresy than to behold a new world, though placed directly 
before their eyes. Before this erudite and dignified body, the 
projector presented himself with that modest and manly confi- 
dence which always distinguished his interviews with the great 
and influential. He stated his scheme, with the grounds on 
which it rested, in the most simple and forcible manner. To 
his great disappointment, a large proportion of his scientific 
hearers "entrenched themselves behind one dogged position; 
that after so many profound philosophers and cosmographers 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 47 

liad been studying the form of tlie world, and so many able 
navigators had been sailing about it for several thousand years, 
it was great presumption in an ordinary man to suppose that 
there remained such a vast discovery for him to make," 

The greater portion of his auditors, also, seemed far more 
anxious to display their own ingenuity, erudition, and ortho- 
doxy, than to give an impartial hearing to the audacious scheme 
they were to judge. Thus, theological scruples, founded on 
his plan of the sphericity of the earth, were urged against him. 
" At the very threshold of the discussion, instead of geograph- 
ical objections, Columbus was assailed with citations from the 
Bible and the Testament, the book of Genesis, the Psalms of 
David, the orations of the Prophets, the epistles of the Apos- 
tles, and the gospels of the Evangelists. To these were added 
the expositions of various saints and reverend commentators; 
St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Gregory, 
St. Basil and St. Ambrose, and Lactantius Firmianus, a 
redoubted champion of the faith."* This latter worthy had 
written a vehement and elaborate treatise against the sphericity 
of the earth, and the doctrine of the antipodes. Moreover, 
the heavens, both in the Old and New Testaments, were com- 
pared to a tent extended on the earth — which, according to 
the natural inference, must needs be flat. Another and more 
practical portion of the assembly, though admitting the round- 
ness of the earth, and tlie possibility of antipodes, maintained 
that the torrid zone, an impassable barrier of heat, would pre- 
vent the voyager from ever arriving there. Besides, Epicurus 
had asserted that the Northern hemisphere only was covered 
by the heavens, the remainder of the earth being a mere aque- 
ous wilderness. Moreover, supposing that the ship had arrived 
at India by this new-fangled route, how could she ever retrace 
her course up the enormous hill down which she had sHdden 
to the antipodes! 

Such were probably the most absurd of the numerous objec- 
tions which the bold projector was forced to encounter and 

* Irving's Life of Columbus. 



48 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

refute. This lie did with great force and ability, avoiding, as 
far as possible, any offence to prejudice, or any interference 
with the doctrines of the church, in which he was a devout 
communicant. His arguments and his eloquence convinced the 
most learned and rational of the assembly ; but such was the 
bigotry and obstinacy by which the greater portion of his 
judges were possessed, that he could gain no favorable report 
at their hands. Several conferences took place, but compara- 
tively few of the council would risk committing themselves by 
a decision in favor of such an unheard-of novelty. 



CHAPTER III. 

DELAYS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS FINAL SUCCESS OF COLUMBUS WITH 

THE SOVEREIGNS DIFFICULTIES OF PREPARATION ASSISTANCE 

OF THE PINZONS DEPARTURE OF THE EXPEDITION. 

The Moorish contest still raged, and Columbus, in following 
the movements of this warlike and transitory court, suffered 
much from poverty, disappointment, and ridicule. Even the 
children, it is said, were accustomed to point to their foreheads 
as he passed, considering him a madman. He supported him- 
self in part by his old craft of map-making, and was frequently 
indebted to the hospitality of the sovereigns or of his more 
enlightened admirers. He is said, also, to have fought in the 
campaign of 1489, and to have given distinguished proofs of 
valor. 

The stirring events of the time repeatedly disappointed him 
of promised audiences with the sovereigns. His brother Bar- 
tholomew had journeyed into England to make application to 
Henry VII., and it would seem met with much encouragement. 
An invitation to return to the court of John II., he rejected, 
the remembrance of former perfidy overcoming his eager desire 
for assistance in his project. It was not until the winter of 







Columbus at the Council of Salamanca. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 49 

1491 tliat lie could gain a conference with tlie sovereigns. 
The illiberal councils of Talavera, however, and the cares of 
state, procured a further postponement of his business, and he 
was informed that until the war was concluded, he must not 
hope for assistance in so expensive an undertaking. He next 
tried the powerful dukes of Medina Sidonia, and Medina Cceh. 
After receiving great encouragement from the latter, he was 
again doomed to disappointment; and sick at heart with many 
years of hope deferred, he took his melancholy way back to 
the convent of Kabida. 

The good prior was filled with grief at the miscaniage of 
this noble undertaking; and, on learning that Columbus was 
about to carry his scheme and his services to the court of 
France, again actively exerted himself to prevent such a loss 
to his own country. Entreating his guest to delay, he wrote 
earnestly to Isabella, and received an invitation to wait upon 
her immediately. He forthwith mounted his mule, and betook 
himself joyfully to court. He had formerly been confessor to 
the queeji, whose ears were always especially open to the 
clergy ; and he pleaded the cause of his friend and of scientific 
enterprise with such force and eloquence, that her majesty 
immediately recalled Columbus to her presence, considerately 
sending him a sum of money to purchase a mule and respect- 
able apparel for the audience. The adventurer once more 
turned his steps courtward, and was soon in the royal camp, 
which lay before Granada. 

That celebrated and beautiful city, the last stronghold of the 
Moorish sovereigns, had just fallen before the Spanish arms, 
and he arrived in time to witness its memorable surrender. 
Freed from the engrossments of war and victory, the sover- 
eigns found leisure to attend to overtures which promised a 
nobler and mightier conquest. Eminent persons^ among them 
Talavera, now archbishop of Granada, were appointed to nego- 
tiate for the discovery of a new world. But the adventurer, 
though the entire success or failure of his life seemed hanging 
on the result, proudly refused to abate a single item of his 
4 



50 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

magnificent conditions. To the taunt that he was anxious 
to try his hazardous experiment at the cost of the crown, he 
replied by offering to bear a portion of the expense. Neither 
party would yield; the queen was informed of his obstinac}', 
and the negotiation seemed finally broken off. Eighteen years 
had now elapsed since the grand project had possessed his 
mind. In those years what poverty, disappointment, and weary 
protraction of court-attendance had been his lot ! Seven years 
had been wasted at the Spanish court, and he was now growing 
old. Still undisheartened, the indefatigable projector mounted 
his beast, and set off to carry his proposal and fortunes to the 
court of France. 

Great was the grief and mortification of the friends of dis- 
covery at this untoward result. They waited on the queen, 
and with generous eloquence besought her not to suffer an 
•enterprise of so much moment to the glory of the nation and 
the extension of Christianity to escape from her hands. Isa- 
bella was moved ; but how were the requisite funds for such an 
undertaking to be drawn from treasuries exhausted by long 
.and expensive warfare? The difficulty was but momentary. 
With a queenly and generous enthusiasm she exclaimed, "I 
will undertake the enterprise for my own crown of Castile, 
.and will pledge my private jewels to raise the necessary funds." 
A messenger was instantly disj^atched to recall Columbus. He 
had only journeyed a few miles; the courier soon overtook 
him ; and after a brief interval of delay and hesitation at again 

• committing himself to the mercies of the court, he turned his 
mule, and took the way back to Granada. 

All was now interest and enthusiasm with the high contract- 
ing powers. The pious zeal of the queen and the avaricious 
, ambition of Ferdinand were alike to be gratified. The Grand 
Khan was to be converted, and vast and wealthy provinces 
were to be added to the Spanish dominions. The Holy Sepul- 

• chre, with the treasures thus acquired, was to be rescued from 
the infidels. Such was the generous though mistaken plan of 
.the enthusiastic negotiator, whose spirit, though highly ambi- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 51 

tious, "was incapable of clierislimg plans of mere selfish aggran- 
dizement. 

The conditions annexed to his possible discoveries were, 
indeed, of a princely nature. It was stipulated (April 17th, 
1492) that he and his heirs for ever should eiijoj the high 
office of "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" in all the seas, islands 
and continents which he should discover; that he should be 
viceroy and governor-general over the same, with hereditary 
rights, and with high powers and privileges ; and that he should 
be entitled to one-tenth, or (if he paid an eighth of the expenses), 
an eighth of all the profits to be derived from the expected 
traffic or discovery of treasure. These anticipated gains he 
had piously resolved to devote to the rescue of the Holy Sepul- 
chre. Royal orders were issued, commanding the authorities 
of Palos to equip and man two caravels or small vessels, and 
place them, with their crews, under the command of Columbus. 
"You are well aware," commenced this requisition, "that in 
consequence of some offence which we received at your hands, 
you were condemned by our council to render us the service 
of two caravels armed at your own expense," &c. — A penalty 
of ten thousand maravedis was announced, in case of any fail- 
ui'e or non-performance. 

Full compliance was promised. But when the object of the 
projected voyage was made public, a general thrill of horror 
ran through the vicinity. This httle port was one of the most 
enterprising in Spain, and its mariners were among the boldest 
in venturing into the dreaded waters of the Atlantic. But to 
sail into this unknown ocean without a land to steer to, seemed 
to them the height of desperation and a mere temptation of 
Providence. All the wild and fabulous terrors of this untra- 
versed sea were revived and eagerly caught up. The distant 
gulfs would whelm and swallow up the audacious voyagers — 
the torrid fervors of the line would blast and wither them — or 
they Avould fall victims to those strange and terrible monsters, 
with which imagination peopled every distant and unknown 
region. Not a vessel or a sailor could be procured, and stricter 



52 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEEICA. 

and more peremptory mandates ^vere issued bj the despotic 
court. Little practical efl'ect, however, was produced, and the 
enterprise seemed at a stand, when the influence of a private 
individual turned the scale. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of 
the boldest and wealthiest navigators of the place, had always 
looked with favorable eyes upon the undertaking. lie now 
came forward, with his brother Vicente, and, by their wealth 
and personal influence, greatly forwarded the work. They 
furnished at least one vessel, and induced great numbers of 
their friends and relations to embark in the enterprise. One 
vessel, the Pinta, with all on board, was likewise pressed into 
the service by the royal authority. For the greater- encour- 
agement of the expedition, a royal edict was issued, not only 
exempting all the adventurers from civil suits, but declaring 
them "privileged from arrest or detention on account of any 
offence or crin\e which may have been committed by them up 
to the date of this instrument, and during the time they may 
be upon the voyage, and for two months after their return to 
their homes." 

By the beginning of August, three small caravels were ready 
for sea. One onl}' was j^rovided with a deck, the others being 
open vessels, with only a cabin at the stern and a forecastle at 
the bow. In the first and largest, called the Santa Maria, 
Columbus hoisted his flag; the second, the Pinta, was com- 
manded by Alonzo Pinzon ; and the third, a little bark called 
the Nina, by his brother Vicente. In these frail and perilous 
crafts were crowded an hundred and twentj' persons. All was 
now in readiness. The admiral was provided with letters from 
the sovereigns, addressed to that mysterious potentate, the Grand 
Khan, whose territories, it was su]iposed, he would first light 
on, and whose conversion, with that of his people, was the 
first ostensible object of the expedition. Deeply aware of the 
risk and importance of his undertaking, Columbus, now in his 
fifty-sixth )^ear, confessed himself to his friend, the worthy 
Perez, and solemnly received the communion. The others 
devoutly followed his example. Gloom and lamentation over- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 53 

spread the whole community. Nearly all had relations or 
friends on board, and regarded them as sailing, never to return, 
on a hopeless voyage to imaginary shores. On Friday the 3d 
of August, 1492, at eight in the morning, this little fleet set 
sail, on the most daring enterprise ever undertaken by the 
genius or audacity of man. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS THE TERRORS OF HIS CREW DISCOVERY 

OF GUANAHANI AND OTHER BAHAMA ISLANDS SIMPLICITY OF THE 

NATIVES CONTINUAL EXPECTATIONS OF FINDING ASIA. 

The plan of Columbus was to make the Canary Islands, and 
thence to sail due westward until he should fall in with undis- 
covered lands. According to an ancient globe constructed at 
this time, his chart probably represented Europe, part of Africa, 
and a conjectural Asia, with an ocean of a few thousand miles 
stretching between them — Cipango or Japan being supposed 
to be nearly in the situation of Florida. The little squadron 
arrived at the islands on the 9th of August, but was detained 
for three weeks by the necessity of repairing and taking in 
supplies. Its departure was hastened by the rumor of suspi- 
cious Portuguese vessels hovering in the neighborhood; and 
the commander, dreading some fresh treachery from the dis- 
appointed monarch, hastened to set sail. On the 6th of Sep- 
tember amid the tears and lamentations of his crews, he once 
more spread his sails for the undiscovered continent. 

Cheering the disheartened mariners by magnificent promises, 
he issued his directions to the other commanders, AU were 
to steer westward, in company, if possible, for seven hundred 
leagues, then to sail only in the day, lest they strike on the 
shores of India or Cipango. He kept two reckonings, one for 
his own use, carefully accurate, another for the inspection of 
the crew, in which the daily progress was considerably dimin- 



54 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

islied, in order to allay the apprehensions of his people. Many 
years before, he had resorted to a similar stratagem, when con- 
ducting a reluctant crew on a hazardous expedition against a 
vessel in the port of Tunis. 

By the 13th he had sailed two hundred leagues, and now for 
the first time observed the mysterious variation of the needle. 
The alarm which was excited by this threatened failure of their 
only guide, he allayed by a plausible explanation, "With a 
favorable wind the ships made great headway, and on the fol- 
loAving day the voyagers were cheered with j^leasing, though 
flillacious promises of land. They were now in the trade- winds, 
and for many days fled steadily before them without even 
starting a sheet. The sea was smooth and the air deliciously 
mild and rcfi-eshing. All nature seemed unusually kindly 
and propitious to this daring and momentous enterprise. Their 
spirits were also elated by the sight of many floating weeds 
and other indications of the vicinity of land. 

Still, no shore met their straining and disappointed gaze. 
With a line of two hundred fathoms, no soundings could be 
gained. The admiral thought he might be passing between 
unseen islands, but resolutely adhered to his plan of steering 
steadfastly to the west. His followers, however, became more 
anxious and excited with every tranquil day and its many 
leagues of onward though imperceptible progress. In these 
mysterious seas, the wind, they feared, was always blowing 
from the east, and would never permit them to regain their 
homes. When this alarm was dispelled by a slight shift of 
wind, fresh terrors beset them. The sea, to its whole horizon, 
was covered with weeds, through whose thick and matted 
masses the vessels slowly made their way. They might be 
imbedded in these treacherous meadows of the sea, and their 
vessels rot away in the lifeless calm, without the possibility of 
succor. Or beneath them might lie concealed fatal rocks and 
shoals, the relics of a submerged continent, like the ancient 
drowned Atlantis. The admiral was beset with continued 
murmurs and vague apprehensions. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 55 

His situation, indeed, was daily growing more perilous. 
The mutinous spirit of his crew, developed by alarm, began 
to show itself more and more openly against the envied for- 
eigner, who for his own advancement was thus leading them 
on to perish in the untnown wilderness of waters. A project 
was even formed for throwing him into the sea, and, on their 
return, alleging that he had accidentally fallen overboard 
while contemplating the stars. Though aware of his critical 
position, the admiral maintained a calm and steady demeanor, 
conciliating his crews with persuasive arguments, and awing 
with open threats the more refractory. Frequent, though 
deceptive signs of the vicinity of land aided him in dispelling 
their fears and luring them farther to the westward. By the 
1st of October, they had sailed seven hundred leagues from the 
Canaries; though the reckoning kept for the inspection of the 
crews only showed five hundred and eighty. 

On the 7th, seeing no signs of the island of Cipango, Colum- 
bus altered his course to the south-west, and sailed steadily on 
for three days. Still no shore appeared, and the seamen broke 
forth in clamorous mutiny. The commander in vain endeav- 
ored to j^acify them with promises and soothing words. Find- 
ing these ineffectual, he told them resolutely that he had been 
sent to seek the Indies, and that nothing should induce him 
to relinquish the enterprise. There seems no sufficient ground 
for the report that he agreed, after sailing for three days longer, 
to retrace his course. Overawed by his dignity and resolution, 
the crews sullenly submitted. 

The indications of land, however, now became so frequent 
as to revive the confidence of all. Specimens of fresh vegeta- 
tion, and a staff artificially carved, were successively seen and 
picked np. On the 11th they had fresh breezes, and ran rap- 
idly onward. At evening the course was again altered to the 
westward, and throughout the night every eye was strained 
with expectation. Columbus, stationed on the high cabin of 
his vessel, watched more eagerly than the rest, stimulated with 
ambition to become the personal discoverer of the expected 



56 NORTH JlSD south AMERICA. 

continent. About 10 o'clock lie saw a faintly gleaming and 
uncertain light. Few were encouraged by this sign, though 
the admiral regarded it as a certain proof of the vicinity of an 
inhabited region. At about two o'clock on the morning of the 
12th of October, the Pinta, which, from her superior sailing, 
took the lead, fired a gun as an indication of land: and the 
little squadron lay to, eagerly awaiting the dawn of day. 

As the Hght slowly broke over this newly-discovered world, 
a green and beautiful island was seen stretching before the 
dehghted eyes of the voyagers. Even had it been otherwise, 

"Lovely seemed any object which should sweep 
Away the vast, salt, dread, eternal deep." 

Numbers of people, perfectly naked, were seen running along 
the shore, and apparently filled with amazement. . The admiral, 
richly attired, and bearing the royal standard, entered his boat ; 
and accompanied by the principal persons of the expedition, 
rowed to the shore. Landing, he kissed the earth, and with 
tears of joy returned his thanks to God. The rest followed 
his example. All were intoxicated with joy. Thronging 
round their leader, they embraced him, kissed his hands, and 
almost Avorshipped him. With solemn ceremonies he took 
possession of the island in the name of the two sovereigns, 
bestowing on it the name of San Salvador. It was called 
by the natives Guanahani, and is one of that great cluster of 
the Bahamas, which thickly studs the sea from Florida to 
Hispaniola. 

The simple islanders had watched with fearful anxiety the 
winged monsters which the morning had revealed hovering 
on their shores. On the approach of the strangers, glittering 
in armour and gorgeous raiment, they fled to the woods. Per- 
ceiving no attempt to injure them, they ventured forth, and 
approached the Spaniards, with frequent prostrations and signs 
of adoration. They supposed that these marvellous beings, with 
their floating habitations, had come from the heavens; and 




THR VLJi M I Js<* n . 
This hpRiitifiil hir.l, on.' of the RHy^st dpnljeiis ..f the American tropics, i» a mnrine aqualic^ 
and pspcciiilly delights in hNnntine the peacpful and snrflem shores of the West India Islands 
It in of a brillinnl criini^on color, (whonre its nsme,) find when standinR erect, is fully Ave feel 
hiKh. In the lonij litips of these creHtures, Ht timps, rediilnrly drawn up on the shore, the fanci- 
ful imaRinntion of th« early voyngers Iwl Ihera to mm ranks of re<l-60»t«d aoldiery arrayed ia 
military order. 



DISCOVERY OF AMEllICA. 57 

examined, witli wondering curiosity, tlieir beards, and the 
whiteness of their complexion. 

These natives, the first of their race seen by European eyes, 
were beardless, of a coj^per hue, were entirely naked, and 
adorned with a variety of fantastic paintings. Their hair, 
unlike that of the African races, was straight, and their features, 
where unobscured by paint, were agreeable. Their disposition 
appeared eminently child-like, simple, and affectionate. In his 
journal, the admiral quaintly remarks: "I am of opinion that 
they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to 
have no religion." 

Supposing himself near the eastern extremity of Asia, Co- 
lumbus described these people under the name of Indians, a 
name which has since been applied to all the native races of 
the Western hemisphere. He gave them various little presents, 
such as colored beads and hawks' bells, which they received 
with transport as celestial gifts. They cried to one another, 
he writes, "with loud voices, ' Come and see the men toko have 
come from heaven. Bring them, victuals and drinkJ There 
came many of both sexes, every one bringing something, giv- 
ing thanks to God, prostrating themselves on the earth, and 
lifting up their hands to heaven." On the following da}^, they 
came off to the ships in great numbers, swimming or in canoes ; 
and eagerly brought their offerings to exchange for any memento 
of these heavenly visitors — their tame parrots and their balls 
of cotton yarn being the principal and the most abundant of 
their simple wares. 

The avarice of the discoverers, however, was speedily excited 
by the sight of small ornaments of gold, which the natives 
wore in their noses, and which they readily exchanged for 
European trifles. This metal, as they informed the admiral by 
signs, was procured from the south-west; and he understood 
them to describe a prince of great wealth, who was served on 
vessels of the same precious substance. This and other vague 
information confirmed him in the belief that he was in the 
vicinity of the wealthy Cipango and the golden potentate 



58 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

described bj Marco Polo. Eager to prosecute his discoveries, 
and to land on this famous island, he weighed anchor, and 
left San Salvador on the evening of the 14th. 

He hardly knew whither to steer; for all around him were 
green and beautifid islands, which, as his Indian guests assured 
him, were innumerable. Deluded by his ever-j)resent expecta- 
tion of beholding India, he at once concluded that these were 
part of that great Archipelago, described by his favorite author 
as covering the coasts of Asia, and consisting of seven thousand 
four hundred and fifty-eight spice-bearing islands. On the 16th 
he landed on one of the largest, of which he took formal pos- 
session, bestowing on it the pious title of Santa Maria de la 
Conception. The people were simple and confiding as usual: 
but no amount of gold was found, and the adventurers again 
set sail. 

The benignity and gentleness of the admiral's demeanor, and 
the kindness with which he treated the natives, conciliated 
their deepest veneration and good will. At the beautiftd 
island of Exuma, where he next landed, they thronged around 
the vessels, bringing the simple offerings, which were all their 
poverty could afford, for the refreshment" of the strangers. 
The inhabitants of this island seemed more intelligent than 
those of the others, having neat and comfortable cabins, with 
hammocks for their beds. 

Still, little gold was found; and on the 19th he left Exuma, 
and sailed south-east for the island of Saometo, where, in the 
confased communications of the natives, Columbus imagined the 
descrij)tion of a wealthy sovereign, having much gold and gTeat 
authority. He found the island, and was charmed with its 
beauty, though all his attempts to find the monarch were in 
vain. He appears to have had a most keen and exquisite 
appreciation of the beauties of nature, and, in his connnunica- 
tions to the sovereigns, often breaks into ecstasies at the charm- 
ing places which he discovers. Of this island (Exumeta) he 
says, "It seems as if one would never desire to depart from 
hence. I know not where first to go, nor are my eyes ever 



DISCOVE-RY OF AMERICA. 59 

weaiy of gazing on tlie beautiful verdure. * -5^ * 
Here are large lakes, and tlie groves about them are marvel- 
lous, and here and in all tbe island every tiling is green, and 
the herbage as in April in Andalusia. Tlie singing of tlie 
birds is such, that it seems as if one would never desire to 
depart hence. There are flocks of parrots which obscure the 
sun, and other birds, large and small, of so many kinds and so 
different from ours, that it is wonderful : and besides there are 
trees of a thousand species, each having its particular fruit, and 
all of marvellous flavor, so that I am in the greatest trouble in 
the world not to know them, for I am very certain that they 
are each of great value. * * * As I arrived at 
this cape, there came off a fragrance so good and soft of the 
flowers or trees of the land, that it was the sweetest thing in 
the world." He appears likewise to have had a strong taste, 
though uncultivated, for natural history, and omits no oppor- 
tunity to increase his knowledge. Describing the killing of a 
certain snake, he adds, with pleasant simplicity, "and I have 
kept the skin for your Highnesses." Soon after, he chronicles 
the taking of a strange fish (which he salted down as a curiosity) 
"resembling a hog, totally covered with a shell of exceeding 
hardness, being soft no where excejDt at the eyes and tail." « 
The natives still averred that there was much gold to the 
southward, and described to Columbus a great island called 
Cuba which lay in that direction. In the uncertain communi- 
cations of the Indians, they were understood to say that it 
abounded in gold and spices, and that large ships came there 
to trade. The sanguine mind of the admiral, ever intent on 
Asia, and seeing every thing through the medium of Polo, at 
once fired up. This island must be Cipango, and the ships in 
question those of the Grand Khan, whose vast territories formed 
the main land. He would depart at once for this island, and 
open a new and wealthy channel of traffic for Spain. He 
would then steer to the great continent of India, and at the 
magnificent city of Quinsai, the capital of the Khan, would 
deliver his letters to that mysterious potentate, and sail back 



60 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

in triumph to Spain with the answer. With these glowing 
visions of oriental success and discovery, on the 2-ith of Octo- 
ber he set Siiil from Exumeta. 



CHAPTER V. 

DISCOVERY OF CUBA DESERTION OF PINZON DISCOVERY OF HAYTI, OR 

HISPANIOLA CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES THE CACIQUE GUACAN- 

AGARI WRECK OF THE SANTA MARIA THE FORTRESS OF LA 

NAVIDAD — DEPARTURE OF COLUMBUS FOR SPAIN. 

For three da^'s, with a gentle breeze, the squadron stood 
south-west; and on the 28th of October the noble shores of 
Cuba loomed high in the western horizon. The vessels anchored 
in a beautiful river, and the admiral in his boat explored the 
country, enchanted with its beauty. The rude huts, however, 
and the simple implements which he discovered, betokened no 
higher degree of civilization than he had already discovered. 
The vegetation was beautiful and magnificent, and the eye was 
delighted with a variety of palms, differing from those of the 
Eastern Hemisphere. He imagined that he smelt the fi'agrance 
of oriental spices, and that he heard the voice of the nightingale. 
"He was, in fact, in a mood to see every thing through a fond 
and favouring medium. His heart was full even to overflowing, 
for he was enjoj'ing the fulfilment of his hopes, and the hard- 
earned but glorious reward of his toils and perils. Every thing 
around him was beheld with the enamoured and exulting eye 
of a discoverer, where triumph mingles with admiration : and 
it is difficult to conceive the rapturous state of his feelings, 
while thus exploring the chai'ms of a virgin world, won by his 
enterprise and valor." — Irving^s Cohrmhus. 

Coasting westward, the voyagers examined several villages, 
and found the evidence of greater ingenuity and art than they 
had hitherto met with. Implements of fishing and rude statues 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 61 

were discovered in several of the liabitations. The admiral 
now became the victim of a strange delusion. He imagined 
his Indians to have described the abode of Kublai Khan, the 
great Tartar sovereign, and supposed that, instead of Cipango, 
he must have landed on the mainland of India. Perceiving 
the terror of the natives, he sent an Indian interpreter to assure 
them of his peaceable intentions, and that he had no connection 
with the Grand Khan, whose vessels, he supposed, were the 
objects of their alarm. Assured by the first part of this mes- 
sage, they ventured to the ships in great numbers. 

By another singular misconception, Columbus, who believed 
himself not far from the Tartar capital, was induced to send 
emissaries to an imaginary prince, whose city he supposed to 
lie a little way in the interior. One of them, a converted Jew, 
was armed with a knowledge of Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Arabic 
— languages with which it was su23posed that this oriental 
potentate might be acquainted. These ambassadors penetrated 
some distance, and discovered a village of more than a thousand 
inhabitants. They were treated with great reverence and hos- 
pitality: but the Arabic and other languages of the East were 
quite thrown away upon their entertainers. They returned, 
after an absence of a few days, giving glowing accounts of the 
beauty of the country and the simple happiness of its inhabit- 
ants. They were astonished at beholding for the first time the 
use of tobacco, which the natives smoked in the form of cigars 
— a custom since so universally prevalent throughout the world. 
At this time, also, the potato, cultivated by the Indians, was 
first brought to the notice of Europeans. Great quantities of 
cotton were found under cultivation or manufactured into the 
simple fabrics of the natives. 

Columbus was now inspired with fresh hope of finding trea- 
sures, by the discourse of his Indians, that in a certain place 
called Bohio or Babcque, much gold was collected and ham- 
mered into bars. They occasionally called this place Quisqueya 
— a name which his vivid imagination instantly converted into 
Qui-sai, or Quinsai, the celestial city, the seat of the redoubtable 



62 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Khan. Eager to cany liome a supply of treasure or merclian- 
dise, whicli should evince the utility of his discoveries, he 
determined to steer south-east in quest of this ever-rctreatiug 
Land of Promise, 

Turning from a course which would soon have conducted 
him to the mainland of America, the admii^al, on the 12th of 
November, sailed for the famed Barbeque. He was, however, 
baffled by contrary winds, and during this delay, Martin Alonzo 
Pinzon, who commanded the Pinta, deserted him, and, from 
the superior sailing of his vessel, was soon lost to sight. Much 
disheartened at this piece of treachery, he tiu-ned back to Cuba, 
and for some time renewed his exploration of the coast. He 
was again charmed into ecstasies by the beauty of the climate 
and scenery, and the splendor of the vegetation. The canoes 
of the natives, hollowed from the gigantic Ceyba-tree, were of 
vast dimensions: one of them, he says, being capable of holding 
an hundred and fifty persons. 

On the 5th of December, having passed the eastern extremity 
of Cuba, the voyagers beheld a new land, high and mountain- 
ous, looming in the south-east. It was Hayti, the most beautiful 
and unfortunate of islands. On the evening of the following 
day, they arrived there ; and for several days coasted along its 
shores, enraptured by the beauty of the island — its verdant 
mountains, wide-spreading savannas, and green cultivated val- 
leys stretching to the interior. In honor of his adopted countrj^, 
the admiral bestowed on it the name of Hispaniola. 

On the 12 th, a young native female was captured by a party 
of the sailors, and a golden ornament in her nose inspired them 
with fresh hopes of treasure. She was dismissed with kind 
treatment and presents, to conciliate the people. A party dis- 
patched inland on the following day found a large village, the 
inhabitants of which fled at their approach. Being reassured 
by an Indian interpreter, they ventured back, to the number 
of two thousand, and approached the Spaniards with gestures 
of the deepest reverence and submission. They entertained 
the strangers in their houses with their frugal fare of fish, roots, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 63 

fruits, and cassava bread, and brought their tame parrots and 
other simple ofFerings in great numbers as presents. Some 
pecuharity of these birds occasioned Columbus and others to 
imagine that he had now found a confirmation of his theory 
of India — a sanguine bit of induction, which is thus quaintly 
set forth by one of his learned friends. — "Also Popiniayes, of 
the which some are greene, some yelowe, & some like them of 
India, with yelowe ringes* about their neckes, as Phnie de- 
scribeth them. Of these they brought fourtie with them, of 
most huely and delectable colours, hauing their feathers enter- 
mingled with greene, yelowe, and purple, which varietie 
delighteth the sense not a little. Thus much thought I good 
to speake of Popiniayes, (right noble prince) si^ecially to this 
intent, that the Popiniayes and many other thinges brought 
from thence, doe declare that these Hands savour somewhat of 
India, eyther being neare vnto it, or else of the same nature." 
The party returned to the ships in raptures at all they had 
experienced; the beauty of the scenery, the mildness of the 
air, and the gentle manners of the inhabitants. Indeed, no 
more pleasing picture of the simplicity, kindness, and happiness 
of a primitive life has ever been presented than that drawn 
by their first visitors, of the inhabitants of these beautiful 
islands. Freed by the softness of the clime and the fertility 
of the soil from the necessity of toilsome labor, they i^assed 
their days in that indolent and uncaring repose which forms 
the chief happiness of the savage race. Their wars Avere 
unfrequent and not sanguinary. In general they mingled 
among each other throughout the islands with perfect confi- 
dence and friendliness. "They are a very loving raCe," says 
the admiral, "and without covetousness ; they are adapted to 
any use, and I declare to your Highnesses that there is not a 
better country nor a better people in the world than these. 
They love their neighbors as they do themselves, and their 
language is the smoothest and sweetest in the world, being 
always uttered with smiles. They all, botli men and women, 
go totally naked; but your Highnesses may be assured that 



64 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

they possess many commendable customs; their king is served 
with great reverence, and every thing is practised with such 
decency, that it is highly pleasing to witness it." "They dis- 
play,' he says elsewhere, "a frankness and liberality in their 
behavior, which no one would believe without witnessing it. 
No request of any thing from them is ever refused, but they 
rather invite acceptance of what they possess, and manifest such 
a generosity, they would give away their own hearts." They 
believed in the one supreme and eternal Being, but looked for 
especial protection to their Zemies, or tutelary deities, whose 
images, carved in wood or painted and tatooed on their bodies, 
were regarded with horror by the Spaniards as so many repre- 
sentations of the devil. Even the learned Peter Martyr, writing 
to Ludovic, cardinal of Arragon, gravely assures him that these 
figures are "much like vnto the pictures of spirits and deuilles 
which oure paynters are accustomed to paynt vpon walles; 
but forasmuch as I my selfe sent you foure of those Images, 
you may better presently signifie to the Idnge your vncle, 
what manner of paynted thinges they are, and howe like vnto 
oure deuilles, than I can express the same by writing." They 
believed that the spirits of the good inhabited a region near the 
beautiful lakes in the western part of Hayti, and there par- 
took of the delicious tropical fruits, which grow abundantly 
in those parts. 

Thus protected by the kindness of nature from feehng the 
privations of poverty, consoled by their simple and imaginative 
theology, and exercising freely to each other the natural rites 
of kindness and hospitality, their lives passed pleasantly and 
dreamily away. Mournful is the reflection, that this charming 
and untroubled, though barbarous existence, was to fade so 
remorselessly before the footsteps of so-called civihzation and 
Christianity ; that the gentle race, now welcoming these stran- 
gers as celestial visitants, were so soon to find them the bearers 
of oppression, murder, and extermination; that hundreds of 
leagues of coast once dwelt in by a populous, happy, and 
peaceable race, should now be left a wilderness, desolate, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 65 

■unliealtlij, uninhabitable, and overgro"v\Ti -vv-itli tbe rank and 
tangled vegetation of tlie tropics. 

The admiral still cherished the hope of finding the famed 
Babeque ; but was detained by contrary winds at his anchorage 
in a harbor of Hayti. Here he was visited by a cacique, Avho 
came in gi^eat state, borne on a litter, and attended by a vast 
concourse of his subjects. He and his people readily gave to 
the Spaniards whatever gold they had, 'and still repeated the 
flattering account of islands, rich in the precious ore, lying still 
beyond. Here, as at several other places, the devout admiral 
erected a large cross, and from the ready imitation of the 
natives in all acts of adoration, and especially from the facility 
with which they made the sign of the cross, inferred a little too 
hastily that they were ripe for conversion, and would easily 
come into the pale of the holy church. 

On the 22d he received an embassy, with presents, from an 
important cacique, named Guacanagari. The messengers dis- 
patched in return, found his town large, neat, and well built, 
and were received with great honor and hospitality. Two 
days afterwards, while sailing nearer to the residence of this 
friendly chief, a grievous accident occurred. Columbus, usu- 
ally ever on the alert, was asleep in his cabin, and the careless 
mariners, during the night, ran his vessel on a shoal. The sea 
and the force of the current, in spite of all his skill and exer- 
tions, soon rendered her a wreck, and he was compelled, with 
his crew, to take refuge in the little caravel Kina, now his last 
resort. 

The good cacique was deeply affected by the misfortune of 
his guests. He wept, and afforded them every relief in his 
power. "With all his people, he rendered the most active 
assistance ; and the effects of the Spaniards, though to the eyes 
of these simple beings inestimable treasures, were all, even to 
the most trifling article, carried on shore, and religiously pre- 
served for their owners. "They shoAved," says Martyr, "much 
humanitie towards our men, and helped them with their lighters 
or smal boates, (which they call canoas) to vnlade their broken 



66 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

shippe, and that with such celeritie and cheerefulnesse, that 
no friende for friend, or kinsman for kinsman, in such case 
moued with pitie, coulde doe more." 

Guacanagari in person came on board the caravel, and seeing 
the dejection of the admiral, shed tears of sympathy, and bade 
him be of good cheer, generously offering every thing that he 
possessed. Considerable gold was brought in by the natives, 
and readily exchanged for trifles ; and the cacique, perceiving 
the cheering effect of this circumstance, assured Columbus that 
in the mountains, at a place called Cibao, there was great plenty 
of the precious metal. This name Columbus, his head still 
filled with the visions of Marco Polo, supposed must of course 
be identical with the famed Cipango. 

Nothing could exceed the kindness of the generous cacique, 
and his sympathy with the misfortunes of his guests. He 
ordered national games and dances for their amusement; and, 
with all his people, was struck with amazement at the invinci- 
ble weapons of the Europeans, the use of which the admiral, 
in return, caused to be exhibited. Repeated presents were 
made to the adventurers, and the smallest article in return was 
received with transport, and was declared to smell of Turey or 
heaven. Even the rude sailors were enchanted with the beauty 
of the land, and the kindness and gentleness of their entertain- 
ers; and a considerable portion of his people, viewing with 
apprehensions the voyage to Europe in a crowded caravel, 
besought of Columbus permission to remain on the island. 

This idea harmonized with the views of the admiral. Indeed, 
he now began to look upon his shipwreck as a providential 
dispensation for the colonization of the island and the explora- 
tion of its resources. The wreck was broken up and brought 
to shore, the Indians eagerly assisting in the work ; and in ten 
days a substantial fortress was constructed of its remains, and 
mounted with the guns of the vessel. 

Reports of the neighborhood of the Pinta frequently reached 
the admiral, and he endeavored to find her, but in vain. lie 
was fearfid that Pinzon, resolved to forestall the glory of his 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 67 

discovery, had sailed to Europe. If, on the contrary, lie and 
his vessel had perished, nothing remained but the frail and 
diminutive caravel, the Nina, to carry the news of his grand 
exploit to the shores of Europe, and rescue the western world 
from its oblivion. He determined therefore, resigning for the 
the present the magnificent temptations to discovery which lay 
around him, to hasten his return, and to secure the preserva- 
tion of his first achievement before attempting fresh enterprises. 
The fortress, called La Navidad, or the Nativity, was manned 
by thirty-nine volunteers, under the command of Diego de 
Arana, a civil officer of the expedition. The admiral gave 
them full directions for their conduct, and especially enforced 
the necessity of kind and conciliatory conduct towards the 
Indians. The friendly cacique promised his protection and 
assistance to the little colony. Taking an affecting and tearful 
leave of his generous entertainers, Columbus, on the 4th of 
January, 1493, set sail to carry the tidings of his eventful voy- 
age to the shores of Spain. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MEETING WITH PINZON THE VOYAGE HOMEWARD PERIL FROM 

TEMPESTS TREACHERY OF THE GOVERNOR OF ST. MARY's 

ARRIVAL AT LISBON AUDIENCE BEFORE JOHN II. 

For some days tbe little caravel, fraught with the tidings of 
a new world, coasted along the shores of Hayti, delayed by 
baffling winds. On the 6th, to the surprise and joy of all, their 
consort, the Pinta, was seen coming down with full sails before 
the easterly gale. Both vessels anchored near the island. 
Pinzon, by frivolous excuses, endeavored to account for his 
desertion; and the admiral, though aware of his treachery, 
thought it prudent to pass the matter over. In truth, actuated 
by his avarice, that commander had made sail for an imaginary 



68 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

island, abounding in gold; and bad since been trading at Hayti 
for the precious metal, of which he had collected a considerable 
quantity. Columbus, however, compelled him to restore to 
their homes, with many presents, a number of the Indians, 
whom he had kidnapped for the purpose of selling them in 
Spain as slaves. 

Having joined company, they coasted along for some days, 
during which, according to Columbus, they saw the wonderful 
spectacle of three mermaids, probably sea-calves. In the great 
Gulf of Samana, where for a time they anchored, they found 
a fiercer and more warlike race than their gentle entertainers 
at the other end of the island. These were the Ciguaj^ans, a 
bold and fearless tribe of mountaineers, who possessed the ele- 
vated regions of the coast. Their bows and arrows, their clubs 
and their heavy swords of palm-wood, were of an efiective and 
formidable kind. After some peaceable intercoui'se, they 
approached in a hostile manner: but were put to flight by 
the superior weapons of the Spaniards. Two of them were 
wounded ; and thus were spilt the first drops of that vast ocean 
of blood, which for three centuries has been poured out b}'' the 
unhappy aborigines of all America, as a libation to the cruelty 
and avarice of the European races. 

The admiral grieved over this untoward chance; but the 
frank and fearless natives came as readily as before to see the 
mysterious strangers. Their cacique sent a string of wampum, 
in token of amity, and soon visited the admiral's ship in person. 
So pleased was he Avath his reception as to send Colimibus his 
coronet of gold — a princely compliment, the same wliich Gua- 
canagari had already paid to his majestic visitor. 

On the 16th of January, 1493, the two caravels again set 
sail, and Columbus, with difficulty repressing his desire for 
further discoveries, ordered his prow, to the great joy of his 
followers, to be turned directly homeward. The weather Avas 
calm and mikl, but owing to the adverse direction of the trade- 
winds, little progress was made. Early in February, having 
run as far north as thirty-eight degrees of latitude, the}' found 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 69 

more favorable winds, and were enabled to make good headway 
to the eastward. On the 13th of February a violent storm set 
in; and. these little vessels, undecked, and ill fitted to stand 
the fury of the Atlantic, were in the most fearful peril. On 
the night of the 14th the Pinta was lost sight of; and Columbus, 
with gloomy forebodings, was compelled to use his utmost skill 
and exertion to keep his own vessel alive in the tremendous 
seas before which he was scudding. 

According to the pious custom of the day, many penances 
and other devout engagements were undertaken in the event 
of their surviving the tempest — among others, that the admiral 
and all hands, at the first land they touched, should go bare- 
footed, and in their shirts, to offer up their prayers in some 
church before the Holy Virgin. 

The chief anxiety of Columbus was lest his grand discovery 
should perish with its author. He took the precaution of 
writing two accounts of his voyage, and securing them by wax 
from the action of the water; one of these he put in a barrel 
and threw it overboard; the other he placed on the stern, 
secured in a similar manner, that it might float off, if the little 
bark should be swallowed up by the waves. The natural feel- 
ings of the discoverer are eloquently and piously expressed in 
his letter to his patrons. "I could have supported this evil 
fortune with less grief, had my person alone been in jeopardy, 
since I am a debtor for my life to the Supreme Creator, and 
have at other times been within a step of death. But it was 
a cause of infinite sorrow and trouble to think that, after havins: 
been illuminated from on high with faith and certainty to 
undertake this enterprise; after having victoriously achieved 
it, and when on the point of convincing my opponents, and 
securing to your highnesses great glory and vast increase of 
dominion, it should please the Divine Majesty to defeat all by 
my death. * ■?«• * * ^^^ although, on the 
one hand, I was comforted by a fixith that tlie Deity would not 
permit a work of such great exaltation to his church, wrought 
through so many troubles and contradictions, to remain imper- 



70 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

feet; yet, on tlie other hand, I reflected on my sins, for which 
he might intend as a punishment, that I should be deprived 
of the glory which would redound to me in this world." 

The fury of the storm gradually abated, and on the morning 
of the 15th an island, to the great joy of all, was descried in 
the north-east. For two days longer, the continuance of the 
tempest kept them at sea ; but on the 18th they were enabled 
to cast anchor under the lee of St. Mary's, a Portuguese island, 
the most southern of the Azores. 

The colonists were astonished that so frail a vessel had been 
able to live through the fearful storms which for many days 
had been raging around their island. The greatest curiosity 
prevailed, and the governor dispatched presents and a courteous 
message to the admiral. This, it would seem, was merely a 
treacherous snare, as appeared by his subsequent conduct. 
Half the crew had landed, and were performing their vow, 
sans culottes, in the chapel of the Virgin, when the perfidious 
Portuguese, acting on the instructions of his court, surrounded 
the sacred building with an armed rabble, and took them all 
prisoners. The admiral, narrowly escaping a similar fate, was 
compelled, by the increasing tempest, to stand to sea, in great 
peril, for two days ; and it was not until the 23d that the gov- 
ernor, disappointed in his chief prey, consented to release his 
captives. 

After this ungenerous reception at the hands of civilized 
men, the tempest-wearied voyagers, on the 2-ith, again set sail. 
Fresh storms soon overtook them, and for some days the prospect 
of reaqhing their native land seemed hopeless. Fresh vows 
and penances were undertaken ; and on the -ith of March, 1493, 
the little bark, preserved from such unheard-of perils, anchored 
safely in the mouth of the Tagus. The admiral immediately 
dispatched a courier to the sovereigns ^\•ith the tidings of his 
momentous discovery 

The highest interest and curiosity were instantly excited 
throughout the vicinity: the Tagus was covered with boats: 
and Columbus was invited to appear before the king. Stifling 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 71 

tlie distrust inspired bj repeated treacliery, lie appeared in the 
royal presence; and was received witli tliose high honors 
which John, himself an enthusiast in maritime enterprise, well 
knew were due to the discoverer of a world. The monarch, 
devoured by chagrin at the splendid prize which he had 
allowed to slip through his fingers, listened with deep interest 
and mortification to his wondrous story. "He was much con- 
cerned," says a Portuguese historian, "on perceiving that the 
natives of the newly-discovered countries were not black and 
wooly-headed, like those of Guinea, but similar in features, 
complexion, and hair to the people of India, where he was 
engaged in such important undertakings." Unwilling to relin- 
quish all hold on these magnificent expectations, he raised a 
doubt whether the newly -found territories were not included 
v.'ithin his own bull, issued by the pope, and granting him all 
lands which he might discover from Cape Non, in Africa, to 
the Indies. His counsellors, ever seconding his worst impulses, 
eagerly encouraged these ideas ; and it is said that some pro- 
posed the villanous scheme of assassinating the great discov- 
erer, and thus reaping the fruits of his enterprise. The king, 
however, was incapable of so cruel and inhospitable a deed; 
but he resolved forthwith to dispatch a powerful expedition 
to seize by force of arms on the tempting provinces which he 
had described. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ARRIVAL OF COLUMBUS AT PALOS DEATH OF PINZON ENTHUSIASTIC 

RECEPTION OF THE ADMIRAL HONORS CONFERRED UPON HOI 

PAPAL BULL PREPARATIONS FOR A SECOND EXPEDITION. 

On the 15fch of March, Columbus again cast anchor in the 
port of Palos, from which, a little more than seven months 
before, he had sailed on this most eventful and wonderftd of 



72 KORTn AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

voyages. The people of that place, who had long given over 
their friends and relatives as lost in the obscurity of the nn- 
jfcnown ocean, were filled with joy and exultation. The bells 
were rung, and a solemn procession was formed to the principal 
church. In the midst of this general rejoicing, Pinzon, who 
had made the port of Bayonne, and, coveting the chief honor 
of the exploit, had thence dispatched his tidings to the court, 
entered the harbor. When he saw the vessel of the admiral 
already at anchor, his heart died within him. He kept in pri- 
vate till Columbus had departed. A reproachful letter from the 
sovereigns added to his shame and remorse. In a few days 
he died of a broken heart, the prey of grief and humiliation. 
Such was the end of the man to whose daring, liberality, and 
enterprise, the discovery of America was, in a great degree, 
indebted; and who, if he had been content with his just share 
in the glory of the enterprise, would have held a place in the 
public estimation second only to his great commander. 

The court of Castile and Arragon had been filled with exult- 
ation at the letter of the admiral. This splendid addition to 
the empire was regarded as an immediate gift of Providence, 
the reward of their pious crusade against the Moors. Colum- 
bus was enjoined to make immediate preparation for another 
and a more important expedition, and then to present himself 
before the sovereigns at Barcelona. His journey thither re- 
sembled a triumphal procession. The roads were thronged 
with people, eager to catch a glimpse of the trophies, the Indians, 
and, above all, of the great discoverer. 

As he approached the city, a number of noble cavaliers, with 
a gi'eat multitude of the citizens, came forth to meet him. The 
streets were almost impassable with the crowd, and all gazed 
with insatiable curiosity on the productions of the new world 
triumphantly paraded before him — the ornaments and coronets 
of gold, the gift of Indian princes; the bright birds from the 
equatorial forests ; and, more than all, the six natives, so differ- 
ent from aught that European eyes had yet beheld. All the 
ceremonial was on the grandest and most imposing scale. The 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 73 

sovereigns, in a great public assembly, rose from their thrones 
to receive him, and bade him be seated in their presence — 
honors, according to the proud etiquette of the age, due only 
to the visits of royalty. 

When he had finished his eloquent and engrossing narration, 
the sovereigns and the whole court fell on their knees, and 
returned thanks to God for so signal a dispensation — all were 
moved to tears — and the Te Deum^ solemnly chanted by the 
royal choir, seemed the fittest expression of the overflowing 
emotions which this grand event so naturally excited. 

All was now sunshine and prosperity with the fortunate 
adventurer, so long the victim of poverty, obscurity, and neg- 
lect. Wherever he went, multitudes of admiring gazers sur- 
rounded him. He received the highest personal honors and 
privileges from the elated sovereigns. To his own proper coat 
of arms were added those of the royal family, and a group of 
islands, surrounded by the waves, with the proud inscription 

"FOR CASTILLA Y FOR LEON, 
NUEVO MUNDO HALLO COLON."* 

The tidings of his vast discovery spread rapidly through 
Europe, and were received with ecstasy by the learned and 
generous of every nation. It is evident that he greatly enjoyed 
the splendid success which he had merited so nobly ; yet his 
mind still dwelt eagerly on further and more extensive explor- 
ations, and on the grand object to which he had vowed the 
profits of his enterprise — the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. 

The real magnitude of his discovery, indeed, was as yet 
unknown and even unconjectured. It was supposed, as a mat- 
ter of course, that Columbus had touched on the islands or 
perhaps the mainland of India (as all Asia was then called) ; 
and the exultation of mankind seems to have been principally 
founded on this practical proof that the earth was round, and 
that its continents were accessible from opposite quarters. 

* " For Castile and for Leon 

Columbus found a new world." 



74 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

The Spanish government took iramediate and vigorous pre- 
cautions to insure possession of their new discovery. In 
accordance with the custom of the time, the Pope, at the 
request of the sovereigns, issued a bull, granting to the crown 
of Spain the full possession of all territories which they should 
discover to the westward of a line of longitude, drawn an 
hundred leagues west of the Azores. The Portuguese, in ful- 
filment of a previous bull, were to enjoy the right of discovery 
in all the vast oceans eastward of this line. His Holiness does 
not appear to have anticipated the possibility of the rival nations 
meeting by too persevering a search in their allotted directions. 
As for any claim which the native inhabitants of these undis- 
covered lands might have upon them, no scruple seems to have 
troubled any of the high contracting parties. They were sure 
to be pagans and heathen, if nothing worse, and the obligation 
to Christianize them, stipulated in the two bulls, seems to have 
been considered ample compensation for any temporal loss, 
however grievous. 

Portugal, indeed, despite this pious arrangement, continued 
to regard the new enterprise with the deepest jealousy; and 
John even went so far as to fit out a powerful armament for 
the seizure of these tempting possessions. Circumstances, 
however, led him to prefer negotiation, and in the following 
year, after an infinity of intrigue and finesse, a treaty was signed, 
by which the papal line of partition, by mutual agreement, 
was removed to three hundred and seventy leagues west of the 
Azores. 

Meanwhile, the greatest activity was used by Columbus and 
the royal commissioners in fitting out a second and more exten- 
fsive expedition. The principal control of Indian affairs in 
Spain, then, as for thirty years afterwards, was vested in the 
bishop Fonseca, an able, but unscrupulous man, whose treach- 
ery and prejudice were the cause of great misfortunes, not only 
to Columbus, but to the extensive regions over whose interests 
he had control. In accordance with the arbitrary character of 
the government and the age, almost unlimited authority over 



DISCOVEEY OF AMERICA. 75 

tlie persons and property of tlie subjects was given to Columbus 
for the purpose of forwarding tbe expedition ; but so great was 
the enthusiasm of the nation, and the desire of visiting the new 
lands, that the only difficulty was in selection from the host of 
eager volunteers. The avarice and cupidity of great numbers 
had been powerfully excited ; and there were many who, elated 
by glory in the recent conquest of the Moors, longed for a more 
extensive and renowned field of arms — for the invasion of the 
wealthy empires of Cathay and Cipango, and for the subjection 
and, if necessary, the forcible conversion of the mysterious 
Khan. "Hereupon," says old Galvano, "there grewe such a 
common desire of trauaile among the Spanyards, that they were 
ready to leape into the sea to swim, if it had been possible, into 
those new found parts." 

A fleet of seventeen vessels, mostly of a small class, was 
speedily equipped ; and great preparations were made, not only 
for traffic with the Indians, but for the foundation of permanent 
colonies. Twelve pious and zealous ecclesiastics were provided 
for the conversion of the natives. Besides its enjoinment by 
the papal bull, this devout project was an object of especial 
interest to the queen, whose kind and womanly heart was 
moved with great tenderness toward this gentle and unsophis- 
ticated race of people. 

Columbus had been formally invested with numerous and 
honorable titles. He was "High Admiral of the Ocean Sea," 
and viceroy over all countries which had been or might be dis- 
covered. He was entrusted with the royal seal, with power 
to appoint a substitute in his stead, and with authority to fill 
all offices and vacancies by his own appointment. Such were 
the honors and authorities, never forfeited by misconduct, which, 
for a brief period, shed a gleam of the brightest prosperity on 
a life, for the most part, clouded by persecution or neglect. 



76 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SECOND EXPEDITION OF COLUMBUS DISCOVERY OF DOMINICA, AND 

OTHER ANTILLES THE CARIES OR CANNIBALS RETURN TO KAYTI 

— DESTRUCTION OF THE GARRISON OF LA NAVIDAD. 

It liad been intended that only one thousand persons should 
sail in the expedition ; but this number, by stealth and impor- 
tunity, was found, on the day of sailing, to have swelled to fif- 
teen hundred. These sanguine expectants, doomed, for the 
most part, to disappointment or death, were regarded by the 
reluctant lingerers on shore as the most favored and fortunate of 
mortals. Three vessels of tolerable size and fourteen caravels 
had been equipped in the harbor of Cadiz, and on the 25th of 
September, l-i93, with a favorable breeze, the fleet set sail for 
the golden shores of India. A few days brought it to the 
Canary islands, and here Columbus took in necessary supplies 
for his voyage, as well as a considerable quantity of usefal 
seeds and plants, and a variety of live stock — all of which 
proved the origin of a vast increase to the wealth and prosper- 
ity of the new world. 

On again setting sail, they were becalmed for a few days 
within sight of shore ; but on the 13th of October, with a favor- 
able breeze, again launched forth into the Atlantic, no longer 
the object of vague and superstitious terrors. Their course lay 
more to the southward than in the former voyage, and they 
sailed rapidly onward with, for the most part, propitious and 
favorable gales. On the 2d of November, the nautical sagacity 
of Columbus detected many signs of the approaching vicinity 
of land. Vigilant watch was maintained during the night, and 
on the following day, they perceived with shouts of joy the 
lofty peaks of Dominica — so named by the pious admiral, in 
honor of its discovery on the Lord's-day. This island is one 
of that beautiful chain of the Antilles, which, from' Porto Eico 
to the coast of Paria, displays a magnificent variety of moim- 
tainous and tropical scenery. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 77 

As the fleet, with a gentle breeze, swept onward in the still- 
ness of the Sabbath, island after island arose amid the tranquil 
sea. Green forests, enlivened with myriads of parrots and gay- 
colored birds, were seen clothing their declivities. On one of 
these, which, in honor of his ship, he named the Marigalante, 
(a name which it still bears) the admiral landed, and took 
formal possession, but discovered no trace of the existence of 
human beings. On the 4th he landed at Guadaloupe, whose 
lofty and volcanic precipices form one of the most striking fea- 
tures of the archipelago. The natives, like most savages, fled 
from the unaccustomed sight of the white men ; and to secure 
their good will, the Spaniards bound hawks' bells and other 
trinkets upon the children which they had left in their dwell- 
ings. These, and their simple utensils, indicated greater com- 
fort and ingenuity than any which they had hitherto seen. 
There were many tame geese around their houses, and domes- 
ticated parrots of great size and splendid plumage. Here also 
the delicious flavor of the pine-apj^le first surprised and de- 
lighted the senses of the Europeans. 

The discoverers, however, were soon struck with horror at 
the sight of numerous human remains, such as skulls, which 
appeared to be used as drinking-vessels and other domestic 
utensils. This convinced them that they had come upon the 
abode of the Caribs, a fierce race of cannibals, which had been 
described with horror by their former entertainers. This con- 
jecture was speedily confirmed. On farther search, "Our men 
found in their houses all kinds of earthern vessels, not much 
vnlike unto ours. They found also in their kytchens, mans 
flesh, duckes flesh, & goose flesh, all in one pot, and other on 
the spits ready to be layd to the fire. Entring into their inner 
lodginges, they found faggottes of the bones of mens armes and 
legges, which they reserue to make heades for their Arrowes, 
because they lack iron, the other bones they cast away when 
they haue eaten the flesh. They found likewise the head of a 
yong man fastened to a post, and yet bleeding." These ac- 
counts were received with a lively though horrific interest in 



78 NOllTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Europe— being considered as settling tlie doubtful question 
whether any race of men habitually preyed upon their fellow- 
beings. The relics in question were probably those of some 
unfortunate prisoners, taken in war. 

At this island, nine mariners straggled into the woods, whose 
dense foliage prevented them from regaining the shore or even 
ascertaining the points of the compass. Search was fruitless, 
and it was not until after the expiration of several days that the 
fears of the admiral were relieved by their return. They were 
exhausted with wandering, and half starved; but they had not 
been eaten, and brought with them several native women and 
boys, whom they had captured, the men being absent on some 
expedition. 

On the 10th they again weighed anchor, and stood in the 
supposed direction of Hayti, or Hispaniola, discovering as they 
went numbers of the islands which compose this splendid 
archipelago. While at anchor at Santa Cruz, a boat's-crew of 
the Spaniards became engaged in a fight with several of the 
Caribs who were in a small canoe. The fierceness with whicli 
they fought, the women as well as the men, rendered their cap- 
ture exceedingly difiicult. One of them was killed, and one 
of the Spaniards was mortally wounded by a poisoned arrow. 
The virulent effect of such a wound is described in curt but 
forcible language by a narrator of the time: "They poison 
their arrowes with an herbe, whereof he that is hurt dieth, 
biting himselfe like as a mad dog doth." 

The chief prisoner was an Indian queen, — a perfect Amazon, 
it would seem. "Her son wayted vpon her, beeing a young 
man, strongly made, of a terrible and frowning countenance, 
and a Lion's face." These brave barbarians were daunted nei- 
ther at their misfortune, nor at the sight of the white men, 
wonderful and novel as all must have been to them, 

"When they were brought into the Admirall's shippe, they 
did no more put of their fierceness and cruel countenances, 
then do the Lions of Lybia when they perceiue themselves to 
bee bound in chaynes. There is no man able to behold them, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 79 

but he shall feele his bowells grate with a certayne horrour, 
nature hath endued them with so terrible menacii'g and cruell 
aspect." 

Still steering to the north-west, in quest of Hispaniola, 
Columbus discovered fresh clusters of verdant islands arising 
from the sea — to some of these, from their surpassing number, 
he gave the name of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, He soon 
arrived at a large and beautiful island, called by the natives 
Boriquen, and now styled Porto Kico. Its inhabitants were 
enemies of the Caribs, but like them were cannibals, devouring 
their prisoners. On landing, well-built and neatly-ornamented 
huts were seen, and the signs of industrious cultivation; but 
the natives had fled in terror from their formidable visitors. 

On the 2 2d, the fleet arrived at the eastern extremity of 
Hayti; and the greatest excitement and the most glowing 
expectations prevailed among the adventurers. These sanguine 
hopes were soon destined to be miserably disappointed. A 
party of sailors, ranging along the shore, discovered several 
decaying bodies, one of which, from its beard, was evidently 
that of a European. The greatest alarm was now felt for the 
safety of Arana and his garrison; but the fearless and con- 
fiding manner in which the Indians came off to the fleet, in 
some measure dispelled these apprehensions. On the evening 
of the 27th the admiral arrived at La Navidad, and fired can- 
non as a signal to his friends on shore. No answering report 
was given. A deadly silence seemed to prevail. The suspense 
of the voyagers, during the night, was in some measure relieved 
by the arrival of a messenger from Guacanagari, bringing pres- 
ents to the admiral, and charged with an account of the mis- 
fortunes of the colonists. 

It would appear that, after the departure of Columbus, the 
mutinous and undisciplined spirits, whom he left behind, aban- 
doned all restraint and obedience to order. They quarreled 
fiercely among themselves, and grievously ill-treated the unof- 
fending natives. Eleven of them, inflamed by accounts of the 
riches of Cibao, had started on an expedition to amass treasure. 



80 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Over this coveted district ruled Caonabo, a powerful cacique, 
a Carib bj birth, and possessing all the fierce and warlike 
qualities of that dreaded race. This despotic chieftain, jealous 
and alarmed at the invasion of the strangers, was also, perhaps, 
influenced by an ancient tradition, long current with his people. 
"The Deuill," says Purchas, "had forewarned them by Oracle 
a bearded Nation shoulde spoile their images and spill the 
bloude of their children." Accordingly, on their entrance into 
his territories, he had seized the whole party, and put them to 
death. Then joining his forces with those of a neighboring 
cacique of the mountains, he had secretly traversed the forests, 
until he arrived in the neighborhood of the fort. The garrison, 
unsuspicious of any hostility, were buried in slumber, when a 
furious midnight attack, accompanied with frightful yells, was 
made upon their quarters. Taken by surprise and overpowered 
by numbers, they found that flight or defence were alike futile. 
All were slaughtered, and the village of Guacanagari, who 
fought faithfully in defence of his guests, was burned to the 
ground. 

The morning brought a sad confirmation of these disastrous 
tidings. The shores were deserted, the fortress lay in ruins, 
and the simple habitations of the Indians were reduced to ashes. 
Eleven bodies of the colonists were found buried in the vicinity. 
The Indians gTadually relinquished their fears, and thronging 
around the whites related the mournful fate of their comrades. 
The admiral, numerously attended, repaired to the cacique, 
whom he found suffering from a wound received in the conflict. 
The prince shed many tears while describing the fate of the 
garrison and his own misfortunes. Several of his people were 
present, and the wounds which they exhibited had evidently 
been inflicted with Indian weapons. 

Columbus, recalling the kindness and hospitality of the 
cacique, readily believed his tale; and liberal presents were 
exchanged. Several of the Spaniards, however, considered it 
merely a fabrication to conceal his own share in the destruction 
of his guests ; and Friar Boyl, the chief of the ecclesiastics, in 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 81 

a sanguinary spirit, advised his immediate, execution. The 
admiral, however, still reposed confidence in his good faith, and 
invited him on board his ship. Here the simple chieftain was 
again amazed by the display of European art and luxury, the 
strange plants and fruits of the old world, the animals, and 
especially the horses, whose imposing appearance filled the 
natives with astonishment. All were supposed to be a fresh 
importation from the celestial shores. 

The evident distrust with which he was^ regarded, however, 
inspired the cacique with alarm. His reluctance to wear 
the mysterious emblem of the cross probably increased the ill 
will of the missionaries. He went on shore, and soon after- 
wards strengthened suspicion by enticing from the ship some 
Indian women, with whom he made good his retreat into his 
native mountains. The shore was again left silent 'Snd deserted. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FOITNDATION OF THE CITY OF ISABELLA NATURAL WEALTH OF THE 

ISLAND — CONSPIRACY AGAINST COLUMBUS GRAND EXPEDITION 

TO THE INTERIOR SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONISTS 

SEVERITY TO THE INDIANS. 

On" account of the melancholy associations and somewhat 
unfavorable location of La Navidad, Columbus resolved to 
leave it, and to found his new settlement in some more eligible 
spot. He weighed anchor on the 7th of December, and while 
cruising along the coast, was compelled by adverse winds to 
put into a harbor about ten leagues east of Monte Christi' — a 
bold and lofty promontory, which still bears the name bestowed 
by its discoverer. Struck with the natural advantages of the 
place, both for fortification and improvement, he determined 
to found a city, the earliest built by Europeans in the new 
world, and to name it in honor of his magnanimous mistress, 
Isabella. The harbor was spacious and commodious, with two 
6 



82 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEKICA, 

rivers, and a beautiful plain in tlie background. The golden 
mountains of Cibao, tbe objects of such sanguine anticipations, 
lay inland but a moderate distance. 

Accordingly a busy scene of disembarkation was soon pre- 
sented. The crowds so long pent up in the confinement of 
shipboard joyfully landed, and the numerous stores and mate- 
rials for colonization were piled upon the beach. Streets and 
squares were laid out, and houses were diligently constructed 
of wood and other convenient materials; the church, the public 
magazine, and the admiral's residence being, however, built of 
stone. 

The maladies incident to a change of climate soon broke out 
among the colonists ; and were greatly aggravated by the dis- 
appointment of these too sanguine spirits, who, in lieu of the 
chivalrous adventures and golden harvest which they had con- 
fidently looked for, found themselves absorbed by the toilsome 
and exhausting labor of founding a settlement in the wilder- 
ness. Columbus himself was attacked by the prevailing dis- 
order, and for several weeks, during which he was confined to 
his bed, could only evince his accustomed energy by direction 
and advice. 

To satisfy, in some measure, the extravagant exjDectations 
of the colonists as well as the nation, he resolved to send an 
expedition into the interior, with a view to exploration, and 
especially to the discovery of treasures hidden in the recesses 
of the mountains. The command was entrusted to Alonzo de 
Ojeda, a young cavalier of high reputation for activity and 
daring. With a small body of well-armed and resolute com- 
panions, he started, early in January, 1494, to explore the 
interior of the island. For six days they traversed difficult 
mountains and forests, meeting the greatest kindness and hos- 
pitality at the Indian villages. In the mountain torrents they 
found golden sand and»small masses of the virgin ore, which 
vyere considered as affording a rich promise of the value of the 
mines whence they had been scattered. Another expedition 
returned with similar flattering reports. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 83 

# 

The admiral now dispatched to Spain twelve of the vessels, 
and with them sent specimens of gold, and of the productions 
of the island. In his letters he described in glowing teVms the 
beauty of the scenery and the fruitfulness of the soil, which 
was evinced by the rapid growth of the sugar-cane and of other 
plants introduced from the old world. The necessities of the 
colony, however, compelled him to solicit further supplies for 
its present subsistence. He also sent to Spain quite a number 
of the natives whom he had taken in his cruise among the 
Caribbee or Cannibal islands. These pagans, he thought, being 
duly converted, might be useful as interpreters and missionaries, 
and might aid in spreading Christianity through their heathenish 
and man-eating Archipelago. To further this pious purpose, 
he also proposed that a regular trade should be established 
with the mother country, by which the latter should supply 
the colony with hve stock, receiving in return all the Caribs, 
who might be caught, as slaves. The salvation of their souls, 
he thought, would be an abundant recompense for their invol- 
untary servitude. "In this way, the colony would be furnished 
with all kinds of live stock, free of expense; the peaceful isl- 
anders would be freed fi'om warlike and inhuman neighbors ; 
the royal treasury would be greatly enriched; and a vast 
number of souls would be snatched from perdition, and carried 
as it were by main force to heaven." This insidious scheme, 
in which interest and authority appear to have vanquished the 
more kindly feelings of Columbus, was not sanctioned by the 
court: the gentle and womanly sympathies of the queen, 
strongly enlisted in behalf of the simple natives, interposing 
in their favor. 

As the returning sails disappeared in the eastward, the hearts 
of the colonists sank within them. Wearied of labor, privation, 
and illness, a return to their homes became the object of fever- 
ish anxiety. A dangerous conspiracy was set on foot for the 
seizure of the remaining vessels, and an immediate abandon- 
ment of the colony. Bernal Diaz de Piza, the comptroller, a 
man of factious and intriguing temper, was the chief mover of 



84 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

this sedition ; but before it could take effect, all was discovered 
by the vigilance of the governor. A slanderous memorial 
against' him was discovered in the buoy of one of the ships. The 
ringleaders were promptly arrested. Diaz was sent to Spain 
for trial, and the less important conspirators received a moder- 
ate punishment. But, though successful in maintaining his 
authority, the admiral, already jealously regarded as a foreigner, 
awakened enmities and resentments, which pursued him through 
life, and hampered all his future enterprises. 

On his recovery, he resolved on a grand expedition to ex- 
plore the resources of the country. All the available force of 
the colony was mustered; and leaving his brother Diego in 
command of the infant settlement, Columbus, on the 12th of 
^larch, with four hundred men, gallantly armed and equipped, 
set forth into the mountainous wilderness. On the second day, 
after toiling through forests and difficult passes, the little army 
arrived on a summit, and beheld with rapture that beautiful 
plain, to which their leader gave the name of the Yega Eeal, 
(the Royal Plain) and which stretches eastward, it is said, for 
eighty leagues, through the most beautiful portion of the island. 
The numerous Indians whom they encountered, and through 
whose villages they passed, were at first struck with terror at 
the martial array, glittering in steel, and especially at the cav- 
alry, which they supposed to be strange animals, half man and 
half beast, like the fabulous Centaurs : but the kind and con- 
ciliatory treatment, enforced by the governor, soon dispelled 
their fears, and caused them to delay the march by their profuse 
and simple hospitality. 

Marching over the plain, the explorers crossed the beautiful 
river Yagui, which still bears its native appellation. The 
mountains of Cibao (or the Stony Eegion) lay before them, 
and as they toiled up the difficult passes, the glittering particles 
of gold, mingled with the sands of the torrents, consoled them 
for the asperity of the way. The natives readily brought them 
what gold they could collect, and gave glowing accounts of the 
wealth concealed among the rugged ravines which lay still 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 85 

further inland. There, they averred, were masses of the pre- 
cious ore as big as an orange, or even as large as a child's head. 
The main body of the expedition was able to penetrate the 
mountains only for a distance of eighteen leagues from the city ; 
but Columbus dispatched a small force into the country for 
further exploration, meanwhile employing the remainder of 
his people in the erection of a fortress. His emissaries returned 
with favorable accounts of the mineral wealth and even the fer- 
tility of the regions they had explored. Leaving fifty-six men, 
under the command of Pedro Margarite, in the newly-construct- 
ed fortress, (which he named St. Thomas) the governor, with the 
rest of his command, took the way homeward to Isabella. 

He arrived there on the 29th of March, well satisfied with 
his expedition, and found much encouragement in the success- 
ful cultivation and the rapid growth of the plantations he had 
commenced. In this warm and tropical climate, the fruits of 
the earth had matured with a quickness and perfection wonder- 
ful to European eyes. The sugar canes especially, destined 
to form the principal wealth of these splendid possessions, had 
thriven wonderfully, and wheat had come to perfection in a 
little more than two months from the time of its sowing. 

But the human portion of the settlement, which was to ben- 
efit by these bounties of nature, was languishing and withering 
beneath the genial and sultry influences so favorable to vegeta- 
tion. Fevers and other tropical maladies were prevailing ; and 
a terrible disease, the scourge of licentiousness, communicated 
by the Indians, now for the first time struck with horror the 
inexperienced Europeans. The activity of the colony lan- 
guished, and sedition again began to rear its head. This dis- 
content was greatly aggravated by the severe and impartial 
discipline of the governor, who compelled the cavaliers and 
men of noble birth to labor indiscriminately with the rest — 
thus exciting enmity and hostility in powerful and influential 
quarters. The dangerous ill-will of the chief friar, Father Boyl, 
was also awakened, it is said, by an order that he and the other 
ecclesiastics should be put on short allowance, like the rest. 



86 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Many of the unfortunate colonists perished from disease, from 
toil, and the change from their accustomed food and manner 
of living. 

Tidings soon came of the unfriendly disposition of the 
Indians in the neighborhood of the fort, exasperated by the ill 
usage of the Spaniards. Caonabo, the redoubted Carib cacique, 
it was reported, was preparing for a fresh attack on the whites. 
Columbus now resolved, as a means of inspiriting and refresh- 
ing the colonists, to dispatch another large expedition into the 
interior. An army of about four hundred men, well armed, 
was accordingly equipped, and placed under the command of 
Alonzo de Ojeda, with orders to proceed to the fortress of St. 
Thomas. Here Ojeda was to take command of that important 
post, while Pedro Margarite, in whom Columbus reposed great 
confidence, was to explore the island, especially Cibao, with the 
army, visiting the several caciques, and displaying to the natives 
the force of the Spaniards. 

Strict directions were given to Margarite that the Indians 
should every where be treated in the mildest and most concil- 
iatory manner, and that no provisions should be taken from 
them without a fair compensation from the pubhc funds; any 
theft or other injury committed by them, however, was to be 
exemplarily punished, to exhibit the power of the white man. 
Caonabo and his brothers were, if possible, to be secured and 
made prisoners. The infraction by Margarite of these judicious 
regulations was destined to provoke the enmity of the natives, 
and to lead to their cruel oppression and final extermination. 

Ojeda, with his force, left Isabella on the 9th of April, and, 
on his way, provoked by a theft, cut off the ears of one of the 
natives, and sent others in chains to Columbus. The latter, 
with a cruel and sanguinary policy, ordered that their heads 
should be i:)ublicly struck off — death being the penalty among 
the natives for the offence charged upon them. He was, how- 
ever, prevailed on by the entreaties of a friendly cacique to 
remit this punishment, the actual fulfilment of which, it is to 
be hoped, he had never intended. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 87 



CHAPTER X. 

EXPEDITION OF COLUMBUS TO THE WESTWARD DISCOVERY OF JAMAICA 

COASTING THE SOUTH OF CUBA THAT ISLAND SUPPOSED TO BE 

THE CONTINENT OF ASIA INTERCOURSE WITH THE 

INDIANS TEDIOUS VOYAGE IN RETURNING. 

Columbus, having thus for the present arranged the affairs 
of the colony, prepared for a new voyage of discovery. He 
appointed his brother Diego as President during his absence, 
with a council of some of the chief persons in the settlement. 
Of the five vessels remaining in the harbor he selected the 
three smallest, being the Nina and two other caravels, for his 
intended expedition. On the 2-ith of April, 1494, he left the 
harbor of Isabella, and steered to the westward. In a few 
days he made the eastern extremity of Cuba, and sailed along 
the southern shore. The natives, on the landing of the Span- 
iards, at first fled precipitately to their mountains; but being 
reassured by an Indian interpreter, ventured back, and received 
the strangers with much gentleness and hospitality. 

As the squadron coasted along, the Indians, in great num- 
bers, crowded to the shores, and, holding up their provisions,- 
invited the crews to land. Many came off in their canoes, 
with offerings, to the ships, and were transported at the gifts 
which they received from the admiral. They informed him 
that a great island, abounding in gold, lay to the southward ; 
and accordingly, on the 3d of May, he once more turned into 
the open sea in quest of the ever- vanishing Babequo. Lofty 
mountain summits soon appeared above the horizon, and in 
two days he reached the magnificent island of Jamaica, which 
still bears its aboriginal name. 

After meeting a hostile reception from a large fleet of Indian 
canoes, the Spaniards approached the beach, which was lined 
wath a great number of the natives, yelling fiercely, and hurl- 
ing their javelins at the intruders. The superior courage and 
weapons of the Europeans soon put them to flight, and Colum- 



88 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

bus, landing, took formal possession of the island, wliich he 
called Santiago, The cacique presently made overtures of 
peace; and in a brief time the natives, with their customary 
placability, were in full and friendly intercourse with their 
visitors. As the squadron sailed along the coast, it was con- 
tinually surrounded by their canoes. Many of these were of 
extraordinary size, one of them being ninety-six feet in length 
and eight in breadth, hollowed from a single tree. These peo- 
ple were more bold and warlike, and were farther advanced in 
art and industry, than any which the Spaniards had yet en- 
countered. Gold, however, was not found, and the admiral 
again steered for Cuba, whither he arrived on the 18th of May. 
He found the natives, where he landed, full of reports of these 
wonderful strangers, who were supposed to have descended 
from the sky. He endeavored to ascertain from them whether 
Cuba was an island, or part of the great continent of Asia. 
Their ignorance of its extent confirmed him in the supposition 
that it must be the latter. Still sailing westward, he found the 
sea studded with an innumerable archipelago, mostly uninhab- 
ited, to which, from its beauty, he gave the name of the Queen's 
Garden, and which he supposed to be identical with that great 
cluster of islands described by Polo as fringing the territories 
of the Khan. From the violence of the currents and the intri- 
cate nature of the navigation, the little squadron was here in- 
volved in great peril and perplexity. Freed from this danger, 
Columbus stood westward, through a more open sea, and on the 
8d of June again landed, and made inquiries of the Indians. 
Their misunderstood replies and gestures confirmed his error, 
and he joyfully coasted on along the supposed continent of 
Asia, cheered by the hospitality of the natives, who thronged 
with ecstasy about his vessels. These coasts, then swarming 
with a kindly race, ignorant but happy in its simple barbarism, 
are now a deserted and unwholesome wilderness. 

Passing another intricate and dangerous archipelago, Co- 
lumbus arrived in a more open sea, probably the great bay of 
Batabano. He still cherished the hope of arriving at a wealthy 



DISCOVERY OF AMEMCA. 89 

and civilized region, and imagined tliat the savages whom he 
had hitherto found were but the inhabitants of its wilder and 
remoter provinces. In their vague communications he thought 
he had got a glimpse of that fleeting and mysterious dignitary, 
the fabulous Prester John. He continued to struggle westward 
through innumerable shoals and islands, where the ships were 
in constant peril, and where vast swamps and far-stretching 
thickets of mangroves forbade all access to the coast. He was 
itiassured, however, by finding the coast bending to the south- 
west, and by the hope of a new and brilliant route of discovery 
for his return. He supposed that by sailing on, he should pass 
the Great Gulf of the Ganges and the Arabian Sea, and arrive at 
the straits of Babel-mandel. Thence he would travel overland 
to Jerusalem, the object of his deepest interest and veneration, 
and pass to Spain through the Mediterranean. Or he would 
sail triumphantly round Africa, putting to shame the timorous 
efforts of the Portuguese, and securing the glory due to the 
first circumnavigator of the globe. 

This magnificent project, if founded on a correct theory, 
must, however, have failed from the necessities of the squadron. 
The ships were miserably leaky and sea- worn; the provisions 
were falling short; and the crews were disheartened by the 
constant peril and exhausting toil of their intricate navigation. 
They earnestly remonstrated against a continuance of the voy- 
age. The admiral could not but see the futihty of proceeding 
further; but was strongly desirous of substantiating his belief 
that he had explored the coast of Asia. Accordingly, having 
arrived near the Bay of Philippina, a most singular method 
was taken for authenticating his discovery, All hands, in- 
cluding several experienced geographers and navigators, were 
called on solemnly to declare their opinion, before a notary 
public, of the nature of the newly-discovered country. Stim- 
ulated by a desire to return, and probably actually supposing 
it to be a fact, they universally concluded that the fleet had 
reached the shores of Asia; and grievous penalties were pro- 
claimed by the notary against any person who should presume 



90 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

thereafter to recant his opinion. At this very time Columbus 
was so near the western extremity of the island, that two or 
three days' sail would have carried him to the gulf of Mexico, 
and disabused him of the error, in which he continued to his 
dying day, of supposing that Cuba was the eastern projection 
of the Asiatic continent. 

On the 13th of June, retracing his coui'se, he stood south-east, 
and soon discovered the Isle of Pines, which he named Evan- 
gel ista. All on board were greatly exhausted by toil and pri- 
vation; and it was with great joy that on the 7th of July they 
cast anchor in a beautiful river of Cuba, and found the natives 
generous and hospitable in the extreme. A large cross, as 
usual, was erected on the shore, and mass was solemnly per- 
formed. The Indians beheld with wonder and reverence the 
mysterious ceremonies of their guests ; and an ancient counsel- 
lor of their cacique addressed Columbus with simple and forci- 
ble eloquence. "This which thou hast been doing," he said, 
"is well; for it appears to be thy manner of giving thanks to 
God. I am told thou hast lately come to these land's with a 
mighty force, and hast subdued many countries, spreading 
great fear among the people ; but be not, therefore, vain-glori- 
ous. Know that, according to our belief, the souls of men 
have two journeys to perform after they have departed fi'om 
the body ; one to a place dismal and foul, and covered with 
darkness, prepared for those who have been mijust and cruel 
to their fellow men ; the other pleasant and full of delight, for 
such who have promoted peace on earth. If then thou art 
mortal, and dost expect to die, and dost believe tliat each one 
shall be rewarded according to his deeds, beware that thou 
wrongfully hurt no man, nor do harm to those who have done 
no harm to thee." 

Columbus, a man of strong devotional feelings, was deeply 
moved and edified by the natural piety of this native philoso- 
pher. He commended his speech, and gave assurances, which, 
it is to be feared, from his personal ambition, and the false 
doctrines of his time, were in the end but grievously ill-fulfilled. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 91 

On the 16th, he took his departure, amid the sorrow of his 
simple entertainers, and again stood eastward for Ilispaniola. 
Storms and contrary winds dehiyed his voyage. For nearly a 
month he continued slowly beating along the southern shore 
of Jamaica, holding much friendly intercourse Avith the natives, 
who came off in great numbers with presents and refreshments. 
Their ornaments and their dresses of tropical plumes exhibited 
much art and ingenuity. Here, as at other places, the simple 
people besought him to take them with him to his own country, 
of which the native interpreters had given them such glowing 
and wonderful descriptions. It was not until the 23d of Au- 
gust, that the exploring squadron, having rounded the eastern 
end of Jamaica, was gladdened by the sight of Hispaniola, and 
the friendly attentions of its inhabitants. A month longer was 
consumed in gaining its eastern extremity ; and here the vig- 
orous frame and tireless energy of Columbus were suddenly 
struck down by sickness. For five months he had been ex- 
posed to the most exhausting watchings and exposures, the 
effect of which was aggravated by his constant anxiety and 
responsibility. He was carried, completely insensible, and 
apparently dying, into the port of Isabella. 



CHAPTER XI. 

DISORDERS OF THE COLONY HOSTILITIES OF THE INDIANS THEIR 

DEFEAT AND SUBJECTION THEIR OPPRESSION BY THE SPANIARDS. 

During the protracted absence of the governor, the island 
had become a prey to anarchy and disorder. Pedro Margarite, 
who had been dispatched with the army, on the important mis- 
sion of conciliating the caciques and exploring the resources 
of the country, had neglected these important duties, and had 
abandoned himself to luxury and licentiousness. The natives, 
heretofore so friendly and hospitable, were shocked and alarmed 
at the excesses of those whom they had so lately regarded as 



92 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

celestial beings. Their provisions were seized and wasted; 
their little stock of gold was wrested from them; and their 
women were subjected to the licentiousness of the intruders. 

Diego Columbus, an amiable, but unenergetic man, was unable 
to repress these excesses. Margarite, supported by a discon- 
tented faction, jealous of their foreign commanders, openly dis- 
avowed his authority. Father Boyl, too, who remembered 
with anger the short allowance on which he had been put, 
added his powerful weight to the rebellious party. Finally, 
these worthies, having by their excesses and indiscretion em- 
broiled the whole colony, seized on certain of the ships, and, 
before the return of the admiral, left precipitately for Spain. 

The disorders which they had excited remained behind them. 
The army, now without a leader, roved through the country, 
committing all manner of outrages and wrongs upon the In- 
dians, who were thus converted into implacable enemies. The 
island of Hayti, at this time, was ruled by five sovereign 
caciques, to whom all the smaller chieftains paid submission. 
Guacanagari, the friend of Columbus, ruled over the territory 
of Marien, on the northern part of the island, in the immediate 
vicinity of the settlement. Another, named Guarionex, held 
sway over a great part of the Eoyal Plain. The province of 
Xaragua, so called from the lake of that name, lay to the west, 
and was governed by Behechio. Higuey, which occupied the 
eastern portion of the island, was the territory of Cotubanama. 
Last and most di'eaded of all was the fierce Carib chieftain of 
Maguana, Caonabo, among whose domains were the golden 
mountains of Cibao. The population of the island is said, 
perhaps with exaggeration, to have been a million of people. 

This numerous, though unwarlike race, was now deeply 
incensed at the outrages of the marauding Spaniards. Though 
not daring to attack the main force, they began to cut oft" 
stragglers from the army. Emboldened by success, they pro- 
ceeded to further hostilities. Guatiguana, a cacique under 
Guarionex, put to death ten of the invaders, who had injured 
his people, and set fire to a house in which a large number of 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 98 

them were confined by sickness. Caonabo, remembering his 
triumph at La Navidad, marched, it is said, with ten thousand 
men against the fortress of St. Thomas, where Ojeda was sta- 
tioned with only fifty Spaniards. 

That redoubted cavaher, however, was fully on his guard; 
and the strength of the fort and its insulated position enabled 
him to set the besiegers at defiance. For thirty days he was 
closely invested in his stronghold ; during which time, by sev- 
eral daring sallies, he struck terror among the enemy, making 
great slaughter, and escaping unhurt. The Indians, weary of 
the fruitless siege, finally broke up, and returned to their homes. 

Caonabo, undiscouraged by the failure of this attempt, med- 
itated fresh plans for the extirpation of the invaders. He pro- 
posed a league among the caciques for a general attack on the 
settlement, and a war of extermination against the Spaniards. 
He met with favorable answers from all except the weak and 
generous Guacanagari, whose territories surrounded and pro- 
tected the colony, and who still remembered with affection the 
friendsliip of the admiral. He refused to join the league, and, 
with his wonted generosity, succored a large number of the 
unfortunate soldiers, thus drawing on himself the enmity of the 
neighboring caciques. They invaded his territory, killing one 
of his numerous wives and carrying off another. He still re- 
mained faithful to the colonists, and, soon after the arrival of 
the admiral, stood by his sick bed, proffering his sympathy, 
and his assistance against the hostile coalition. 

The situation of the governor was painful in the extreme. 
He was confined to his couch by severe illness, and the whole 
colony was disturbed by rebellion, and exposed to the attacks 
of a powerful and justly -incensed confederacy. To his great 
joy, however, he found, at Isabella, his favorite brother Bar- 
tholomew, who had arrived from Spain some months before. 
This celebrated man, whose character, though more stern and 
worldly, bore a strong resemblance to that of the admiral, had, 
for many years, been a sharer in his projects, his hopes, and 
disappointments. He had been dispatched by the latter into 



94 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

England, to engage the attention of Henry VII. to the grand 
proposals of Columbus, and had met with a favorable reception 
from that unprincipled, but enlightened monarch. Hastening 
to Spain with the joyful tidings, he learned on his way the 
astounding news that the grand discovery had already been 
made. Arriving at the Spanish court just after the second 
departure of his brother, he was received with high favor, and 
was soon dispatched with three ships, freighted with supplies 
for the colony. On their meeting, Columbus, incapacitated for 
a time for business, invested him with the honorable title of 
Adelantado or lieutenant-governor, to conduct the affairs of 
the colony. This appointment, though within the limits of his 
authority, was regarded with evil eyes by the jealous Ferdi- 
nand, and probably contributed much to his subsequent ill- 
usage of the great discoverer. 

Vigorous measures, considering the feeble state of the colony, 
were immediately taken for its defence, and for reasserting the 
authority of the Europeans over the natives. An armed force 
was dispatched to the relief of fort Magdalena, which was 
besieged by Guatiguana. That hostile chief was defeated, and 
many of his people were slain. A strong fortress, named fort 
Concepcion, was erected in the territories of Guarionex, the 
powerful sovereign of the Vega. Caonabo, the most danger- 
ous and inveterate enemy of the white men, was secured by a 
singular stratagem. Ojeda, already distinguished for his dar- 
ing and enterprise, undertook his capture, relying on the assist- 
ance of the Virgin, under whose special protection he placed 
himself, and whose picture he always carried as his safeguard. 
"With only ten companions, he made his way for sixty leagues 
through the forests, and suddenly presented himself before the 
cacique. The latter, charmed with his audacity, was easily 
persuaded to accompany him in a friendly manner to the settle- 
ment. He started, accordingly, with a large force, and on the 
way was induced by his perfidious guest to mount behind him 
on horseback, and to decorate his wrists with a pair of brilliantly 
polished shackles. Secure of his prey, the Spaniard started 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 95 

off at full speed, and after a most difficult and toilsome marcli, 
succeeded in reaching the city with his companions and his prize. 

The fierce cacique, undismayed by captivity, preserved his 
haughty demeanor, and boasted of the destruction which he 
had wreaked upon La Navidad. He always, however, treated 
Ojeda with marked respect, admiring alike his craft and his 
audacity. He was confined closely, but not rigorously, in the 
house of the admiral, "fretting and grating his teeth, as it had 
been a Lion of Libia, and dayly and nightly deuising with 
himself howe hee might bee deliuered." To effect the release 
of the captive cacique, one of his brothers, a brave and able war- 
rior, raised a force of seven thousand men, and advanced to 
attack the Spaniards at their fortress. The simple weapons, and 
the undisciplined array of the natives, however, proved une- 
qual to the terrors of European arms, and the charge of cavalry. 
The Indians were defeated by Ojeda with much slaughter, and 
their leader was taken prisoner. 

The colony, whose condition, from warfare, neglect of culti- 
vation, and the search for gold, had become miserable in the 
extreme, was relieved, in the autumn of 1494, by the arrival 
of four vessels from Spain, bringing supplies and also a num- 
ber of mechanics, husbandmen, and other persons essential to 
its prosperity. By these vessels, on their return, Columbus 
remitted all the gold which he had been able to collect, and, 
sad to relate, five hundred Indian captives, for sale in the slave- 
market of Seville. This cruel proceeding, so dishonorable to 
his fame, was, however, only in strict accordance with the 
usage of nearly all the European nations at this period. The 
cruelty inspired by avarice w^as justified by the bigoted reason- 
ing, that all Mahometans, pagans, and other dissenters to Chris- 
tianity, were fair objects of oppression, and that their chance 
of conversion was an ample recompense for their present tem- 
poral injuries. To the eternal honor of Isabella, on the arrival 
of these unfortunates, she interfered in their behalf, and, 
although a royal order had been issued for their sale, com- 
manded that they should be sent back to tlieir homes. She 



96 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

also gave strict charge to treat the natives witli kindness and 
conciliation — a mandate whicli, unfortunately, arrived too late 
to benefit the objects of her compassion. 

The captivity of Caonabo excited the greatest indignation 
among his people and his allies. A new and powerful con- 
federacy was formed against the Spaniards. Guacanagari 
alone remained friendly to the oppressors of his people. By 
March, 1495, an immense force of the natives, intended to over- 
whelm the feeble remains of the colony, was mustered not far 
from Isabella. Columbus, with his brother Bartholomew, at 
the head of all the available forces of the settlement, sallied 
forth to meet the enemy. His little army consisted of only 
about two hundred men; but these were formidably armed, 
and were provided with twenty horses and as many blood- 
hounds, both of which animals were an especial terror to the 
unclad and superstitious natives. The governor encountered 
the Indians in overwhelming number, near the site of the 
town of St. Jago. The usual result, where European courage 
and discipline were opposed to savage ignorance and undirected 
numbers, soon followed. By a skilful manoeuvre, the ill-ar- 
ranged mass of the natives was thrown into confusion; the 
cavalry charged among them, cutting them down almost with- 
out resistance ; and the ferocious blood-hounds, the disgi'ace of 
Spanish warfare, tore them in pieces, while almost unnerved 
with terror. Great numbers were slain or taken ; the remainder 
fled to the mountains, and this great and menacing confederacy 
was, by a single battle, completely broken up and dispersed. 
The unfortunate Guacanagari, who, with his people, had been 
present at this scene of slaughter, returned laden with the 
curses of his countrymen; and soon after, overwhelmed with 
grief and mortification, took refuge in the mountains, where 
he perished miserably. 

After this decisive victory, the whole island appeared to be 
at the mercy of the victors. Columbus, marching through the 
most fertile and accessible portions of the country, easily re- 
duced them to submission. All the caciques, except Behechio, 



• DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 97 

•who ruled the remote western extremity, were compelled to 
sue for peace, and were unable to attain it, except on severe 
conditions, involving . their subjects in miserable servitude. 
Numerous fortresses were erected in their territories, and gar- 
risoned by their conquerors, to keep them in more complete 
subjection. Besides the large tribute exacted from the chief- 
tains, each of the natives, above the age of fourteen, was com- 
pelled to furnish, every three months, the measure of a hawk's 
bell filled with gold dust — these baubles, which so little time 
before had charmed the poor creatures as celestial gifts, being 
appointed to mete out the miseries of their enslavement. 

While admiring the genius, the courage, and the indomita- 
ble perseverance of Columbus, it is impossible to restrain an 
honest indignation at the oppressions which he contrived and 
authorized. Such was the change from his former benignant 
intentions; and such, unfortunately, is the change which the 
temptations of power and the insidious plea of necessity can 
work too often upon natures otherwise kindly and magnani- 
mous. Gold must be sent to Spain, to satisfy the court, to keep 
up the popular excitement, and to support his own standing— 
to effect this, a whole nation was to be reduced to unaccustomed 
and intolerable servitude. " The pleasant life of the island was 
at an end; the dream in the shade by day, the slumber during 
the sultry noon-tide heat by the fountain or the stream, or 
under the spreading palm-tree; and the song, the dance, and 
the game, in the mellow evening, when summoned to their 
simple amusements by the rude Indian drum. They were now 
obliged to grope, day by day, with bending body and anxious 
eye, along the borders of their rivers, sifting the sands for the 
grains of gold which every day grew more scanty ; or to labor 
in their fields beneath the fervor of a tropical sun, to raise food 
for their task-masters, or to produce the vegetable tribute 
imposed upon them. They sunk to sleep weary and exhausted 
at night, with the certainty that the next day was to be but a 
repetition of the same toil and suffering."* 

* Irving's Columbus. 



98 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

In the forlorn hope of inducing their oppressors by famine to 
depart, they finally laid waste their plantations, ahaud(nicd 
their homes, and took refuge in the mountains. But the vigi- 
lant and remorseless invaders pursued them, determined to 
enforce a return to their labors. They wandered fi-om one 
refage to another, vainly seeking some secure asylum from 
their unrelenting masters. Many thousands perished of star- 
vation, exposure, and disease, and the survivors, seeing the 
fruitlessness of the endeavor, ventured back, and resumed the 
heavy yoke of their invaders. 



CHAPTER XII. 

INTRIGUES AGAINST COLUMBUS DISCOVERY OF GOLD MINES HIS RETURN 

TO SPAIN PREPARATIONS FOR A THIRD EXPEDITION. 

The misrepresentations of Margarite, of the friar, and other 
refugees from the land of disappointment, who now besieged 
the court of Spain with their complaints, exerted an influence 
most unfavorable to the interests of Columbus. Nuipbers of 
adventurers, eager for the discovery of golden shores, entreated 
permission of the government to fit out expeditions at their 
own expense, paying a proportion of the profits to the crown. 
The avarice of Ferdinand induced him to comply, thereby 
violating the privileges already assured to the admiral. Such 
weight indeed did the slanders of his adversaries possess with 
the court, that it was resolved to send out a commissioner to 
to investigate the affairs of the island. 

Juan Aguado, the person selected by the sovereigns for this 
delicate task, was under obligations to Columbus, and there- 
fore, it was supposed, would be less repugnant to his feelings, 
in such an invidious office, than any other. With four vessels, 
freighted with supplies, he set sail, and arrived at the town of 
Isabella in October, 1495, while the governor was absent, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 09 

arranging the affairs of the interior. This weak and ungrate- 
ful man, puffed up with his new authority, immediately com- 
menced a system of vexatious interference with the affairs of the 
colony. He paid no deference to the of&cers of Columbus, 
and, with indecent haste, commenced the collection of evidence 
against him — an easy task in a settlement swarming with malcon- 
tents and conspirators. The calm and moderate manner in which 
Columbus submitted to his intermeddling, as authorized by the 
royal authority, served only to inflame his pride and inso- 
lence. Every description of questionable evidence was admit- 
ted; and, most dangerous of all, the defeated caciques joined 
in an appeal to the court of Spain against their late conqueror. 
Such a complaint, addressed to the sympathetic nature of Isa- 
bella, was calculated to injure the governor more than any 
other species of accusation. 

Columbus, perceiving the influence of the hostile faction at 
the court, resolved to return to Spain with Aguado, and defend 
his reputation in person. But when all was prepared for em- 
barkation, a terrific hurricane arose, which destroyed all the ves- 
sels in port, except the Nina, and laid waste the island in the 
most fearful manner. The natives had never witnessed such a 
storm before, and regarded it as a direct indication of the anger 
of the Deity at the cruelties and oppressions of the white men. 

"Hark, he answers — wild tornadoes, 
Strewing yonder sea with wrecks, 
Wasting towns, plantations, meadows, 
Are the vt)ice with which he speaks." 

The delay which this accident occasioned, enabled Columbus 
to return under the favorable auspices of a profitable discovery. 
A young Spaniard flying from the law, had formed a tender 
connection with an Indian woman of the southern coast. To 
secure his affection, she informed him of the locality of the 
richest gold region. He purchased his pardon with the tidings, 
and the messengers, dispatched by Columbus, reported the dis- 
covery of valuable mines of the precious metal in the vicinity 



100 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of tlic river Ilayna. Indeed, the whole soil in its neighbor- 
hood seemed to abound with the ore. The enthusiastic imagin- 
ation of the admiral led him at once to jump at the conclusion 
that these were the mines of Ophir, so famous in the days of 
Solomon, and he thought he must have passed the southern 
coast of the Orient, in attaining the fancied extremity of India. 

The Nina being repaired, and a new caravel built from the 
wrecks of the others, on the 10th of March, 1496, the rival 
authorities set sail in company. These little vessels were 
crowded with more than two hundred passengers, consisting of 
the sick, inefilcient, or disappointed colonists. There were 
also thirty Indians, among them the redoubted Caonabo. 
Through ignorance of the peculiar currents of the trade- winds, 
the vessels were a whole month detained in slowly beating 
to Guadaloupe. Here, after some skirmishing with the natives, 
the voyagers remained ten days, taking in supplies, and on the 
20th of April again set sail. Another month was tediously 
employed in beating against the trades. Famine began to 
stare them in the face. The daily allowance was reduced to 
six ounces of bread and a pint of water, and all the authority 
of Columbus was required to repress the inhuman expedient 
of devouring or throwing overboard their Indian prisoners. 
The unfortunate Caonabo and his brother "dyed by the way, 
for very pensiueness and anguish of minde." It was not until 
the 11th of June, that the caravels, after a miserable voyage 
of three months, cast anchor in the bay of Cadiz. 

During the long absence of Columbus, his enemies had been 
industriously employed in tarnishing his reputation. Popular 
sentiment, with a reaction common enough, disappointed of 
immediate golden returns, now began to undervalue his dis- 
coveries as useless and deceptive, and to sneer at their lately- 
idolized author. Columbus himself, vas if to conciliate fortune 
by humiliation, at this time appeared in the homely garb of a 
Franciscan, girt with a cord, and with his beard grown long 
lilce a friar's. To propitiate the popular taste, and to revive tlic 
interest in his discoveries, he was compelled to the miserable 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 101 

expedient of ostentatiously exhibiting, in the towns through 
which he passed, the coronets, armlets, and other trophies of 
the simple state of Indian princes. 

The sovereigns, still mindful of his great services and 
capacities, received him kindly, and made no mention of the 
calumnies of his enemies, or of the sinister report of Aguado. 
He represented to them the value of his late discovery (which 
must, of coui'se, he concluded, be the Ophir of Solomon), and 
besought six ships for a fresh voyage of exploration along the 
promising coasts of the Mainland (Cuba). His patrons readily 
assented; but the absorbing objects of European ambition and 
the intrigues of his enemies in office doomed him to a fresh 
experience of Spanish procrastination. lie was repeatedly 
disappointed in procuring the means for his expedition; and 
the king, prejudiced by his enemies, began to look coldly on 
him. Isabella still stood his firm friend, and conferred many 
favors upon him. Various provisions of the contract, injurious 
to his interest, were suspended, and an edict was issued, re- 
tracting any licenses for discovery, if prejudicial to his rights 
and privileges. She even offered him the title of duke, with 
a splendid landed principality in Hispaniola; but his fear of 
exciting fresh envy in his adopted country led him to decline 
accepting this brilliant token of royal favor. He was much 
pleased, however, by a solemn edict making his titles and 
estates hereditary; and forthwith made an official testament, 
that his chief heir should never sign by any other than the 
honorable title of "The Admiral." 

In spite of the royal favor, fresh difficulties beset the path of 
the eager adventurer. It was found impossible to enlist the 
requisite number of mariners and colonists from among a people 
alarmed at the disastrous reports of the disappointed refugees. 
An arbitrary order to impress vessels and their crews seemed 
to remedy a part of the deficiency; and, to supply the other, 
resort was had to the forlorn expedient of embarking numbers 
of convicts and other evil-doers to increase the population of 
the settlement, at the expense of its morality. Meanwhile, the 



102 KORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

vile intrigues of Bisliop Fonseca, the superintendant of Indian 
affairs, and the secret enemy of Columbus, produced delays 
the most intolerable to his ardent and adventurous spirit. Noth- 
ing but his gratitude to the queen, and his desire of serving 
her, and fortifying his reputation by fresh exploits, prevented 
him from abandoning his discoveries altogether. Finally, 
when all was ready for departure, the insolence of Briviesca, 
the treasurer of the bishop, whose impertinence assailed him 
at the very water's edge, overcame his accustomed patience and 
self-control. He seized on his tormentor, dashed him to the 
ground, and repeatedly kicked him — thus losing, by a moment 
of unguarded passion, much of that credit with the sovereigns 
which his prudence and forbearance had already secured to him. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS — DISCOVERY OF SOUTH AMERICA 

EXTRAORDINARY THEORY ARRIVAL AT HAYTI. 

On the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus with six vessels set 
sail from the port of San Lucar, on his third voyage of discov- 
ery. Touching at Porto Santo and Madeira, he arrived, on 
the 19th of June, at Gomera, one of the Canaries. Hence he 
dispatched three of his vessels, with supplies, to the relief of 
the colony, and with the remainder of his squadron pursued 
his course to the Cape de Verde islands. On the 5th of July 
he took his departure from them, and steered south-west, 
intending to strike the continent of Asia near the equator. 
After sailing in this direction more than a hundred leagues, 
he found himself in that terrible region which extends for sev- 
eral degrees on each side of the line, and which is known to 
mariners as the "calm latitudes." Here he first experienced those 
sufferings which are the terror of voyagers caught within these 
baleful precincts. A dead calm set in, accompanied by such 
sultry and oppressive heat that it seemed as if the old stories 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 103 

of the torrid zone were to be verified. " Hee was so vexed with 
maladies and heate (for it was the moneth of June) that his 
shij^pes were almost set on fire." The tar melted from the 
seams, the provisions spoiled, and the hoops shrank and fell 
from the water casks. The men, enfeebled and withered by 
the heat, had no strength to remedy these evils. 

Emerging at last from this dismal region, the ships entered 
a milder climate, and found cooling and favorable breezes; 
but such was the miserable condition both of his vessels and 
stores, that the admiral perceived the danger of standing fur- 
ther to the southward. He therefore, for some time steered 
due west-ward, and finally bore to the north in search of the 
Caribbee Islands. 

On the 31st of July, when there was only a single cask of 
water in each ship, land was descried from the mast-head. It 
consisted of three mountains, which soon appeared joined at 
the base. Columbus had already resolved to name the first 
land he should discover in honor of the Holy Trinity; and 
this appearance, from its singular coincidence, struck him in 
the light of a mysterious providence. He therefore, with great 
solemnity, amid the joy of his companions, bestowed on it the 
name of La Trinidad, which it still retains. 

Coasting along this beautiful island, the voyagers were 
charmed with the magnificence of the scenery and the amenity 
of the climate. Villages and scattered dwellings were seen 
along the shore. On the 1st of August, they made land to the 
south, which they supposed to be an island, but which, in real- 
ity, was the coast of South America. The natives came around 
them in canoes, but could not be persuaded to venture on board. 
They were a fairer and finer race of men than any of the abo- 
rigines hitherto seen. 

Passing the narrow and boisterous strait which separates 
Trinidad from the continent, and to which he gave the name 
of "Boca de la Sierpe," (Serpent's mouth) Columbus entered 
the tranquil gulf of Paria, On the west he beheld the long 
promontory of tliat name, which forms its northern boundary 



104: NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and which he supposed to be another island. He steered along 
the southern coast of this projection a considerable distance, 
surprised to find the water grow fresher as he advanced. Sev- 
eral of the natives, venturing near in a canoe, were captured, 
and on receiving presents and friendly treatment, returned to 
shore, and dispelled the fears of their conntrymen. The most 
amicable intercourse soon ensued; and the Spaniards who 
landed were entertained with profound reverence by the ca- 
ciques, as beings from the celestial region. These people were 
of a fine appearance, being fairer than any yet seen, and of a 
frank and martial demeanor. The attention of their visitors 
was soon excited by the numerous ornaments of pearls which 
they beheld, and which the Indian women gladly exchanged 
for the trifles of civilization. 

Finding the water shallower as. he coasted westward, the 
admiral sent a light vessel to explore the coast. The mariners 
of this craft affirmed that a continent lay to the westward, from 
whence flowed a great body of fresh water. Turning eastward, 
he passed the narrow and tumultuous strait which forms the 
northern outlet of the gulf, bestOAving on it, from its terrors, 
the name of "Boca del Dragon" (Dragon's mouth). He ran 
along the northern coast of Paria, and on the 15th of August 
discovered the islands of Margarita and Cubagua, since famous 
for their pearl fisheries. At the latter he procured some splen- 
did specimens, as presents for the court. 

The romantic mind of the admiral, by this time, had con- 
ceived a most extraordinary theory, which he detailed at full 
length in a letter to the sovereigns. The vast body of fresli 
water which he had found in the gulf of Paria, he justly con- 
cluded could only be the outpouring of a continent, Avhich he 
straightway proceeded to supply with "a local habitation and 
a name." 

Now, all philosophers had agreed that some one part of the 
earth was of excellence and beauty superior to the rest, and 
this part might well be supposed to lie on the equator, where 
the genial rays of the sun ripened and refined all natural pro- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 105 

ductions — metals, jewels, and the precious products of the soil. 
But though (as he supposed) within five degrees of the line, 
the weather was temperate, cool and refreshing. What could 
produce this effect except a gradual elevation of the surface, 
up which he had gently slidden with his fleet, ever since he 
entered the favoring influence of the trades? The earth, he 
concluded, was not exactly spherical, but in one point approach- 
ing the purer region of the heavens. Within the external con- 
fines of this celestial region, then, he imagined he had come — 
and if all nature was so pure and charming at the base of this 
elevation, what must be its apex! — without doubt the original 
Garden of Eden, beautiful as ever, but perhaps inaccessible to 
the feet of mortals. And this vast body of water that found its 
outlet at Paria, had doubtless flowed from the Eiver of Life, still 
gushing with perennial freshness from its fountain, by the myste- 
rious Tree.* Such was the theory which Columbus gravely, and 
with much scientific argument, urged upon the court of Spain 
— fortifying his conclusion, moreover, with copious quotations 
from Aristotle, Seneca, St. Augustine, St. Isidor, St, Ambro- 
sius, the book of Esdras, and the cardinal Pedro de Aliaco. 

He was, however, at this time unable to prosecute his dis- 
coveries in these interesting regions, on account of a painfal 
disease of the eyes, incapacitating him from observation. He 
therefore altered the course of his squadron to the north-west, 
and on the 19th of August, after five days' sailing, made the 
island of Hispaniola, and on the 30th arrived at the river 
Ozema, in the vicinity of the newly-discovered gold district, 

* This strange theory is thus stated by one who probably heard it from his 
own lips. The admiral, he says, "hereby conjectured, that the earth is not 
perfectly round, but that when it was created, there was a certayne heape 
raysed thereon, much higher than the other partes of the same. So that (so 
he sayth,) it is not rounde after the forme of an aple or bal, (as other thinkc,) 
but rather like a peare as it hangeth on the tree, and that Paria is the region 
which possesseth the superminent or highest part thereof nearest vnto heauenj 
Insomuch that he earnestly contendeth the earthly Paradise to be sytuate in 
the toppes of those three hilles, which the watchman sawe out of the toppe 
caslell of the shippe," &c. 



106 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

He came into port as before, suffering under a complication of 
maladies, the result of age, anxiety and exposure. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

DISORDERS OF THE COLONY DURING THE ABSENCE OF COLtTMBTJS 

THE REBELLION OF ROLDAN HOSTILITIES WITH THE 

INDIANS THEIR DEFEAT. 

During the protracted absence of Columbus, the affairs of 
the settlement, by the turbulence of the colonists and the hos- 
tility of the natives, had become entangled and distracted to a 
miserable degree. His brother Bartholomew, who had been 
left in command, had, indeed, exhibited the greatest prudence 
and energy in conducting the government. He had founded 
an important settlement (the present city of St. Domingo',) on 
the river Ozema, in the neighborhood of the gold mines, and had 
taken every precaution to render available the resources of the 
country. He had made a formal visit to Behechio, the power- 
ful cacique of Xaragua, the most fertile and beautiful region of 
the island. This wealthy chieftain received him with the great- 
est kindness and hospitality, and his people vied with each 
other in attentions to their distinguished visitors. For the 
amusement of their guests, the Indians performed their national 
games and tournaments ; and fought each other with such spirit 
in the latter, that numbers were slain and wounded. 

On this visit the Spaniards first learned to partake of the 
flesh of the guana, a species of lizard, hideous in appearance, 
but highly renowned as a West India delicacy. A writer of 
the time thus describes the experiment. "These serpentes are 
like unto crocodiles saving in bygness, they call them guanas. 
Unto that day none of owre men durste adventure to taste of 
them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and loathsome- 
ness, yet the adelantado, being entysed by the pleasantness of 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 107 

the kjnge's syster Anacaona, determined to taste of the ser- 
jjentes. But when he felt the fleshe thereof to be so delycate 
to his tongue, he fel too amayne without al feare. The which 
thing his companions perceiving, were not behynde him in 
greedynesse, insomuche that they had now none other talke 
than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes, which they affirm to 
be of more pleasant taste than eyther owre phesantes or par- 
treches." Other adventurers appear to have taken to the same 
delicacy less kindly. An old English voyager writes surlily, 
"here we stayed certain days, feeding on a loathsome beast 
called a guana." It is probably to this same creature that an- 
other ancient writer refers: "In this island" (Cuba,) "the 
common people were prohibited the eating of Serpents, as 
being reserued for Eoyall dainties and the Prerogatiue of the 
King's Table." "This monstrous beaste" says another, "is 
goode to be eaten, and a beaste not to be rejected." 

The kindly cacique of Xaragua was readily induced to sub- 
mit himself to the sovereignty of his guests, and to consent to 
the paj'^ment of a large tribute in cotton and other useful arti- 
cles — his country producing none of the precious metal. There 
is something exceedingly affecting in the cheerful and gener- 
ous spirit which these gentle beings always evinced towards 
their visitors, until driven into resistance by oppression ; and 
the readiness with which they yielded their simple allegiance 
to the evident superiority of this handful of strangers, proves 
the ease with which their happiness and the prosperity of the 
white men might have been reconciled by a humane and 
considerate policy. 

But during the absence of the adelantado, the colonists, 
rapacious for gold, had inflicted fresh injuries and oppressions 
on their Indian serfs ; and the latter, as already narrated, had 
fled in great numbers to the mountains, trusting that their 
tyrants, unprovided with the means of subsistence, would quit 
the island. Great distress thus ensued amonsf the settlers, and 
Bartholomew, on his return, dispersed a considerable number 
of the discontented in a chain of military posts which he had 



108 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

established, and also removed a large body to tlie settlement 
of St. Domingo. 

The bigoted cruelty of the ecclesiastics soon rekindled a 
native war. Their efforts to make converts had hitherto been 
attended with little success, and although they had induced 
Guarionex, the cacique of the Vega, to repeat Pater Nosters 
and Ave Marias, with his household, yet, unable to resist the 
ridicule of his brother chieftains, he soon relapsed into infidel- 
ity. Moreover some of his people destroyed certain images, 
which the friars had erected in a chapel, and thus brought 
down on their heads the fiery indignation of the church. The 
unfortunate offenders, according to the merciless spirit of the 
age, were burned alive; and their cacique, enraged at this act 
of cruelty, set on foot a fresh conspiracy. It was agreed that, 
on the day of payment of the tribute, a general massacre of the 
oppressors should take place. 

The adelantado, being apprised of the scheme, took the most 
vigorous measures to suppress it. He rapidly marched from 
St. Domingo with his forces, and found the Indians already 
assembled in the A^ega, to the number of many thousands. By 
a sudden and well-concerted plan, he entered their quarters in 
the dead of night, and carried off as captives fourteen of their 
principal caciques. Two of them were executed, and the 
Indians, deeply attached to their rulers, and accustomed to 
obey them implicitly, gave up their intention, and filled the 
air with cries and lamentations. Guarionex, who had been 
deeply injured by the Spaniards, was pardoned, and the ade- 
lantado, by a judicious clemency, for a brief time, restored 
peace to the island. 

Discontent and conspiracy, however, were busy among the 
colonists themselves; and Bartholomew, already hated as a 
foreigner, acquired fresh enmity by the necessary strictness 
and rigor of his discipline. At the head of the most factious 
spirits of the settlement was one Francisco Eoldan, an ungrate- 
ful wretch, who had been raised by Columbus from the rank 
of a menial, to be chief alcalde, or judge of the island. lie 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 109 

was uneducated, but shrewd, daring, and ambitious, and re- 
solved to take advantage of the admiral's absence and tbe gen- 
eral disaffection, to procure liis own advancement. He resisted 
tlie authority of Diego at Isabella, and made several fruitless 
attempts to gain possession of some fortress. Finally, with a 
large band of desperadoes, whom he had conciliated by indul- 
gence and by promises, he broke open the public warehouses 
at Isabella, and, having supplied his followers with their con- 
tents, set out for the delightful province of Xaragua, where, 
as he assured them, all should revel in ease and sensuality. 
To gain the assistance of the Indians, he proclaimed himself 
their protector and the redresser of their wrongs; and these 
confiding and generous creatures flocked aroimd him, bringing 
an abundance of supplies, and all the gold which they could 
collect. These simple savages, however, were not long in 
finding that, like the doves in the fable, they had trusted 
to the protection of the hawk. The primitive happiness of 
Xaragua was soon at an end. "Here," says old Martyr, with 
honest indignation, "this filthy sinke of rebels lined in all 
kinde of mischiefe, robbing the people, spoyling the countrey, 
and rauishing both wyues and virgins." 

The adelantado, unable to rely upon the obedience of his 
troops, had been without power to suppress this revolt ; but in 
February, 1198, being reinforced by the arrival of two ships 
from Spain, felt more secure in his position. Having vainly 
attempted negotiation with the rebels, he proclaimed them trait- 
ors — a step which, however, only hastened their march to tlie 
inviting regions of Xaragua. 

The spirit of revolt which Roldan had diffused among the 
Indians of the Vega, soon led them to engage in a fresh con- 
spiracy. But their plans were disconcerted by the energy of 
Bartholomew, and the unfortunate Guarionex, with a few fol- 
lowers, fled into the mountains of Ciguay. Here Mayonabex, 
the bold and magnanimous chieftain of that district, accorded 
him his protection, and assisted him in a course of harassing 
warfare which he continued against the whites and llieir Indian 



110 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

allies. Into these almost inaccessible fastnesses the adcla:i- 
tado, with a small force, made his way, in despite of a large 
body of Indians, who opposed him at the passage of a ford. 
These savages, says the chronicler, "came runnyng out of the 
woods with a terrible cry and a most horrible aspect: For they 
were all paynted and spotted with sundry colours, and espe- 
cially with black and red; a man would thinke them to be 
deuills incarnat newly broke out of hell, they are so like vnto 
helhounds." They were, however, defeated and dispersed with 
much loss, by the energetic Bartholomew. He then sent a 
messenger to the hostile cacique, demanding the surrender of 
his guest as the price of peace and friendship, and threatening 
his territories with fire and sword, in the event of his non-com- 
pliance. The generous and haughty chieftain replied with a 
peremptory refusal. "Tell the Spaniards," he said, "that 
they are bad men, cruel and tyrannical; usurpers of the terri- 
tories of others, and shedders of innocent blood; I have no 
desire of the friendship of such men. Guarionex is a good 
man, he is my friend, he is my guest, he has fled to me for ref- 
uge, I have promised to protect him, and I will keep my word." 

The threat of the invader was speedily fullilled, and the 
unfortunate chieftains, from their mountainous retreat, soon 
beheld the air thick with the smoke of burning villages. Tlie 
usual fiite of the natives, when opposed to the superior skill 
and courage of the whites, ensued. After a long and fatiguing 
campaign, the adelantado succeeded in completely overcoming 
the refractory province, and in taking captive Mayonabex 
and his guest, the latter worn out and overcome by fatigue 
and hunger. With comparative clemency, the lives of these 
unfortunate caciques were spared, and they were retained as 
hostages for the peaceful conduct of their subjects. 

This protracted and harassing warfare being ended, the 
successful commander returned to the fortress of St. Domingo, 
where he soon had the joy of witnessing the arrival of the 
admiral, after an absence of two years and a half During this 
period, the colony had been involved in almost continual dis- 



DISCOVERY OF AMEEICA. Ill 

sension and warfare; and tlie adelantado, though displaying 
prudence, courage, and sagacity in the highest degree, had 
been unable to restore its union and prosperity. 



CHAPTER XV. 

NEGOTIATION OF COLUMBUS WITH THE REBELS HIS SUBMISSION TO THEIR 

EXACTIONS INFLUENCE OF HIS ENEMIES IN SPAIN THE 

APPOINTMENT OF BOBADILLA. 

The admiral, on his arrival, exhausted by illness and expo- 
sure, found the affairs of the colony in an exceedingly feeble 
and distracted condition. The quarrels of the Spaniards, and 
their rapacity for gold, had caused them to neglect the cultiva- 
tion of the soil, and to expose themselves to the horrors of 
famine. Great numbers of the Indians had perished, and 
others were lurking in the mountains; nearly all were disaf- 
fected toward the whites. Many of the colonists, suffering 
from privation and disease, were clamorous for return. 

A proclamation was issued against Eoldan and his followers ; 
but an unfortunate circumstance had greatly strengthened the 
hands of the consj)irators. The vessels which Columbus dis- 
patched from the Canaries had made the coast of Xaragua, 
and had entered into communication with the Spaniards, whom 
they found there. Deceived by the representations of Roldan, 
the commander supplied him plentifully with arms and other 
munitions. A large number of the crews (mostly convicts) 
deserted to the rebels, and the vessels reached St. Domingo in 
a forlorn condition. 

Trusting to relieve the settlement of this dangerous band of 
malcontents, Columbus next offered a free passage to all who 
might desire it, in five vessels which he proposed to dispatch 
to Spain. He also sent a conciliatory message to Kt^ldan, 
inviting an interview and assuring him of p(?rsonal safety. 



112 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

The latter dispatched an insolent reply, and at the same time 
proclaimed himself as a protector of the rights of the Indians 
—a most artful step, founded on his knowledge of the queen's 
sympathy for that oppressed people. Columbus, on mustering 
his forces, found that disaffection had spread so far that only 
a mere handful of men obeyed the smiimons. He was there- 
fore obliged to send the ships to sea, without the restless and 
factious spirits whom he especially di-eaded. He dispatched 
at the same time a long letter to the court, entreating counte- 
nance and protection, and making many valuable suggestions 
for the welfare of the colony. Unfortunately, both for the 
sake of his own interest and reputation, he advised the contin- 
uance, for some time longer, of the enslavement to which the 
Indian captives were held. He also gave a glowing account 
of his recent discoveries, accompanied by specimens of the 
gold and pearls which he had discovered. The rebellious fac- 
tion also forwarded their statement, which, unhappily, was 
backed by influential friends at the Spanish com^t. 

Negotiation with the insurgents was now resumed, but the 
terms of lioldan were too arrogant and grasping to be complied 
with. At length it was agreed that he and his followers should 
be honorably sent to Spain, with their effects, receiving full 
pay, and a certificate of good conduct (November, 1498). The 
effect of these terms, (in a manner extorted from him,) Colum- 
bus trusted to annul by a private letter to the sovereigns, in 
which he fully described the various atrocities which they had 
committed, and recommended the seizure of themselves and 
their ill-gotten wealth until the truth could be ascertained. 

But when the time of sailing arrived, the revolted faction, 
unwilling to relinquish their Hfe of indolent ease, and fearing 
investigation at home, refused to embark. Columbus at the 
same time received a disheartening letter from his old enemy 
Fonseca, by which it appeared that the sovereigns, prejudiced 
by the representations of his enemies, hesitated to contirm his 
authority against the rebellious party. Nothing, then, remained 
but to make peace at any sacrifice; and accordingly (August, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 113 

1499,) Columbus sailed in person to the neighborliood of Xara- 
gua, and arranged conditions of agreement, lie was compelled 
to submit to the hardest terms, and to reinstate Roldan in his 
office of alcalde, which he exercised with great insolence. 
Large grants of land, of Indian slaves, and other property, 
were made to him and his followers, and the admiral ti-usted 
that, by such unlimited concessions, he had secured for a time 
the tranquillity of the island. 

He now meditated returning for a season to Spain, that he 
might reestablish his character in the eyes of the sovereigns; 
but a new and vexatious incident detained him. Alonzo de 
Ojeda, a favorite of Fonseca, inflamed by the late accounts of 
Columbus, had obtained permission to fit out a private expedi- 
tion (May, 1499). Among the adventurers in this enterprise, 
was the famous Americo Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, 
whose name, in consequence of the events of the voyage, and 
his account of it, was unjustly bestowed on the lands already 
discovered by Columbus. Guided by the charts of the admiral, 
and directed by experienced navigators, the squadron of Ojeda, 
composed of four ships, had coasted along the shores of South 
America, for more than a thousand miles; and, following the 
track of Columbus through the Gulf of Paria, had kept west- 
ward, and discovered the gulf of Venezuela. Thence touching 
at various islands, these unprincipled adventurers had taken 
many captives for the purpose of selling them in the slave 
markets at home ; and finally, needing supplies, had sailed for 
llispaniola. 

The governor, aware of the bold and unscrupulous character 
of Ojeda, and learning that he was carrying off the natives of 
Ilayti, as slaves, was filled with apprehension. He accordingly 
dispatched against him the crafty and audacious Eoldan, whose 
new acquisitions had rendered him anxious for an opportunity 
to display his loyalty, A series of stratagems and reprisals 
took place; but in the end the intruder, outwitted by his op- 
ponent, was compelled to retreat from the island; and, turning 
his prows to some quarter more suitable for kidn[i})ping, made 
8 



114 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

up his freight of unfortunate captives, and carried tlieni to the 
slave markets of Cadiz. 

A fresh conspiracy, excited by the severity of Rokhm, soon 
broke out, headed by Adrian de Moxica, and others of the old 
malcontents. But the admiral, with only ten attendants, has- 
tened to the scene, and, coming on their quarters by night, 
seized upon the principal conspirators. Moxica was ordered 
to be hanged on the summit of Fort Concepcion ; and on his 
proceeding to accuse some innocent persons, Columbus, in one 
of his rare but uncontrollable fits of anger, ordered him to be 
flung headlong from the battlements. Others were reserved 
for future execution ; and the entire revolt was suppressed in 
the most stern and energetic manner. The prosperity of the 
colony, freed from sedition, and promoted by prudent manage- 
ment, began to rest on a more firm and settled foundation. 

But while Columbus was engaged in arranging the distracted 
affairs of the island, his enemies in Spain, numerous and power- 
ful, possessed the ear of the court. The jealousy of Ferdi- 
nand was aroused by continued insinuations against the man 
whom he had entrusted with such almost unlimited powers. 
Troops of vagabonds, shipped from the colony, disappointed 
in their hopes, and clamorous for pay or for charity, surrounded 
and annoyed the inmates of the palace. The queen was justly 
indignant at the pertinacity with which the governor urged the 
continuance of slavery ; and the very excesses of the rebels, and 
the wrongs which they had done to the natives, were all laid at 
his door. She ordered as many of these imfortunates as pos- 
sible to be restored to their country, and soon ceased to shield 
Columbus from the jealous designs of her consort. 

The latter had long been anxious to find some pretext for 
resuming the authority which he thought he had so unwarily 
granted; and a suggestion of Columbus was seized upon to 
effect his purpose. The admiral had requested that a judge, 
learned in the law, might be sent to the island, and also an 
inipartial umpire to decide the matters in dispute. Taking 
advantage of this opportunity, the king appointed one Fran- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. llo 

Cisco de Bobadilla, a need}^, passionate and vain-glorious knight, 
to investigate the affairs of the colony. He was armed with 
several letters, one of which, conferring on him the supreme 
command of the island, he was not to produce, unless the cul- 
pability of Columbus should be fully proved. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

RASH AND OPPRESSIVE CONDUCT OF BOBADILLA COLUMBUS SENT HOME 

IN CHAINS SENSATION AT THE SPANISH COURT INJUSTICE OF 

FERDINAND APPOINTMENT OF OVANDO. 

"Chains thy reward! beyond the AtUintic wave, 
Hung in thy chamber, buried in thy grave." 

Bobadilla set sail in July, 1500, and on the 23d of the 
following month arrived at St. Domingo. As he entered the 
river, he beheld the body of a Spaniard hanging on a gibbet 
on either bank. He was also informed that several of the 
insurgents had suffered a similar fate, and that others were in 
prison awaiting their doom. He was naturally excited at this 
instance of severity, and his ears were soon filled with the 
complaints of the disaftected. He demanded the custody of 
the persons in confinement to be committed to himself; and 
Diego Columbus, who was in command, imprudently refusing 
compliance, afforded him an excuse for producing his full 
powers. With great pomposity, he read before the church the 
final missive of the sovereigns, and then, with a huge and 
motley array, proceeded to the fortress. Opposition was, of 
course, impossible ; but this doughty commander, provided with 
scaling ladders, attacked the prison with great fury. The 
doors flew open before his blows, the few ofiicers in charge of 
the building making no resistance ; and he took possession of 
the prisoners with great show of importance. 

He followed up this step by occupying the house of the 
absent viceroy and seizing on all his property; and, in short, 



116 KORTII AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

conducted himself with all the insolence and rapacity which 
might be expected from a man of his character, whose eleva- 
tion to office was dependant on his assertion of the guilt of his 
predecessor. The latter, who was at a distance, on hearing 
these tidings, could scarcely credit that the sovereigns had 
authorized acts of such injustice and ingratitude, lie sup- 
posed Bobadilla to have greatly exceeded his powers, and 
wrote a letter cautioning him against the rash edicts which the 
latter, to secure popularity, had already issued. The reply 
was a peremptory command, backed by the mandate of the 
sovereigns, to appear before his rival at St. Domingo. On 
receiving this decisive intimation of the ingratitude of the 
court, he hesitated no longer, but set out for St. Domingo, and, 
travelling in a lonely manner, presented himself before the 
intruder. Bobadilla, sw^elling with importance, and aAvare 
that the presumption of the admiral's guilt was necessary to 
his own justification, at once ordered him to be put into irons; 
but such was the awe inspired by his age, his dignity, and his 
great name, that even among the hardened wretches who were 
his accusers, it was difficult to find one who would perform the 
infamous task. He submitted to the indignity with the calm 
endurance of a great mind. The malice of his oppressors could 
excite no expression of anger or impatience. "Columbus," 
says his distinguished biographer, "could not stoop to depre- 
cate the arrogance of a weak and violent man like Bobadilla. 
He looked beyond this shallow agent and all his petty tyranny, 
to the sovereigns who employed him. It was their injustice, 
and their ingratitude alone that could wound his spirit; and 
he felt assured that when the truth came to be known, they 
would blush to find how greatly they had wronged him." 

His brothers shared a similar fate, and all were separately 
confined on board of vessels, and were kept in entire ignorance 
of the nature of their accusation or of the evidence which 
was industriously collected against them. Every species of 
complaint found a ready market with the new governor, wl;o 
knew that his own justification must depend upon the convic- 



DISCOVERY OF Al^IERICA. 117 

tion of the accused; and the imprisoned commanders were 
held responsible for every abuse which had been committed on 
the island, and even for the excesses of the insurgent faction, 
which now, bj an alliance natural enough, was in close league 
with Bobadilla. The most ridiculous charges were trumped 
up against the admiral, for an accusation of him was the surest 
mode of securing the fa*^or of his supplanter. 

In October, 1500, this illustrious man was sent from the world 
which he had discovered, manacled like a common felon. Vil- 
lejo, a man of honorable feelings, who had charge of the pris- 
oners, after the vessel was out to sea, would have taken off his 
irons; but the admiral proudly and gravely refused. "Their 
majesties," he said, "commanded me by letter to submit to 
whatever Bobadilla should order in their name ; by their au- 
thority he has put upon me these chains: I will wear them 
until they shall order them to be taken off, and I will preserve 
them afterwards as relics and memorials of the reward of my 
services." This striking resolution, the offspring of a deepl}"- 
wounded and indignant heart, he religiously fulfilled; the 
chains were always seen hanging in his cabinet; and he 
charged that they should be buried with him when he died. 

On his arrival at Cadiz, and the publication of these circum- 
stances, the Spanish nation experienced a universal shock of 
shame and indignation. The court, which probably had not 
contemplated such results, hastened to rescue itself from oblo- 
qiiy and to make ostentatious amends for its injustice. The 
sovereigns wrote to him, deploring the unhappy event of their 
mission, and making provision for his honorable appearance 
at court. He appeared before them at Granada with mucli 
state and dignity, and met with the most favorable and distin- 
guished reception. Hitherto his soul, steeled by hardship and 
experience, had showed itself unmoved by prosperity or adver- 
sity; but when he beheld tears in the e3^es of Isabella, his 
feelings utterl}'- overcame him, and he threw himself on his 
knees before her, unable to speak from the excess of his weep- 
ing and emotion. 



118 NOIITII AXD SOUTH AMERICA. 

Being reassarcd by the kindest expressions, lie recovered 
his self-command, and eloquently vindicated his character and 
the justice of his administration. He had already, in a letter 
to a fi-iend at the court, explained the injustice of his treat- 
ment. "I have been much aggrieved," he had written, "that 
a person should be sent out to investigate my conduct, who 
knew that if the inquest sent home should be of a grave na- 
ture, he would remain in the government. *****. I have 
been judged as a governor who had been sent to take charge 
of a well-regulated city, under the dominion of long-established 
laws, where there was no danger of every thing running to 
disorder and ruin; but I ought to be judged as a captain, sent 
to subdue a numerous and hostile people, of manners and reli- 
gion opposite to ours, living, not in regular towns, but in for- 
ests and mountains. It ought to be considered that I have 
brought all these under subjection to their majesties, giving 
tliem dominion over another world, by which Spain, hereto- 
fore poor, has suddenly become rich. Whatever errors I may 
have fallen into, they were not with an evil intention." 

His patrons expressed high indignation against the conduct 
of Bobadilla, which they entirely disavowed; and promised 
that he should forthwith be dismissed from office, assuring 
Columbus of his speedy restitution in all his honors and privi- 
leges. But he was doomed, during the brief remainder of his 
life, to experience, with continual disappointment, the fickle 
and faithless nature that is too generally the attribute of 
crowned heads. It is probable that Ferdinand never intended 
to fulfil his engagements. The daily-increasing evidence of 
the grandeur and extent of the new discoveries, had aroused 
his jealousy against the dangerous powers which, according to 
covenant, he had bestowed on the great admiral. Many expe- 
ditions of a private nature had been made, all tending to prove 
the vast extent of the newly-found continent. 

One Nino, a pilot of Columbus, in a little caravel of fifty 
tons, had coasted a considerable distance along the northern 
shore of South America, and had returned richly freighted 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 119 

with pearls and gold (1-199). Vicente Pinzon, in January, 
1500, crossing the line, had lauded at Cape St. Augustine, in 
the Brazils, and had discovered the great river Amazon. Diego 
de Lepe, immediately afterwards, had explored a great tract of 
coast, and had ascertained that, below Cape St. Augustine, it 
ran to the south-west. The expedition of Sebastian Cabot, 
under Henry YII. of England, in 1197, had proved the exist- 
ence of a great tract to the northward; and Alvarez de Ca- 
bral, a Portuguese admiral, in 1500, on his route around iVfiica, 
had accidentally fallen on the Brazils. These vast discoveries 
were, however, as yet, generally regarded as different portions 
of the coast of Asia. 

Such evidences of the importance of the new acquisitions 
were quite sufiicient to cause the resolve of the selfish and 
jealous monarch that Columbus should never again hold the 
high office of which he had been so opportunely deprived. 
His task had been performed, and the only question was, how 
to evade with decency the performance of the contracts which 
assured him of his reward. The king therefore amused him 
by promises, but adduced specious reasons against his immedi- 
ate reassumption of authority. Since he was at present un- 
popular on the island, it would be for his interest for a while 
to remain absent. Meanwhile, some officer of repute should 
replace Bobadilla, and arrange the troubled affairs of the colon}-. 
At the end of two years, it was promised he should be fully 
reinstated. With this treacherous assurance he was compelled 
to appear satisfied. 

Nicholas de Ovando, a man of some reputation and of 
agreeable manners, but ambitious, ungenerous, and cruel in the 
extreme, was now appointed to the supreme government of 
the islands and the newly-discovered Terra Firma. Inter- 
ference of some kind was much needed, for the affiiirs of the 
island, under the reckless administration of Bobadilla, were in 
a shameful condition. To secure popularity, he had allowed 
the colonists to indulge in great excesses; and these wretches, 
many of them convicts and criminals, exercised the most fj-ight- 



120 NOKTII AND SOUTH AMEKICA. 

fill oppression toward their serfs, the unfortunate Indians. 
The hitter were coin})elled to carr}^ their tyrants in Utters 
around the island, and to toil till nature was exhausted to sat- 
isfy their rapacity for gold. The benevolent feelings of Isa- 
bella caused her to make many stipulations with the new 
governor in their behalf; and, for their spiritual good, she sent 
out a fresh batch of ecclesiastics, consisting of a prelate and 
twelve of the order of Franciscans, which afterwards played 
such an important part in the affairs of Spanish America. 
These precautions, for want of proper enforcement, were all 
doomed to be unavailing; and the additional curse of negro 
slaver}', afterwards destined to effect the ruin of the island, 
was now for the first time introduced to the shores of the new 
world. Considerable regard was shown to the interests of 
Columbus, and he, with his brothers, received some indemnity 
for their losses. 

On the 13th of February, the fleet of Ovando, consisting of 
thirty sail, and carrying twenty-five hundred souls, sailed for 
Hispaniola. Many of those who embarked wdth him were 
persons of rank and distinction, and the remainder of the 
adventurers were of a far more useful and respectable class 
than had yet emigrated to the western world. Columbus, des- 
pite his injuries, had used his utmost exertions to promote the 
welfare of the colony and its establishment on a prosperous 
basis. Hardly had the expedition departed when a terrible 
storm arose. One of the ships was lost, with an hundred and 
twenty souls; and the shores of Spain were strewed with arti- 
cles thrown overboard by the rest. The remainder were dis- 
persed, but reassembled at the Canaries, and arrived at St. 
Domingo in the month of April. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 121 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FRESH SCHEMES OF COLUMBUS DEPARTURE ON HIS FOURTH AND LAST 

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY DESTRUCTION OF HIS ENEMIES CRUISE ON 

THE COAST OF HONDURAS ETC. HIS DISAPPOINTMENT. 

While Columbus, dispossessed of his rightful government, 
and amused bj deceptive promises, haunted the court at Gran- 
ada, his old scheme for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre 
revived in his mind with great enthusiasm. He prepared a 
careful statement, urging on the sovereigns the necessit}' of 
this pious undertaldng, and also wrote to the poj)e, excusing 
his present inability to fulfil his former vows in behalf of that 
enterprise, which he said had been frustrated by the malicious 
arts of the devil. He was, however, unable to engage the cau- 
tious Ferdinand in an undertaking which certainly afforded a 
greater prospect of hard blows than of profitable returns; and 
soon afterwards terms were arranged with the infidel masters 
of Palestine, by which Christian pilgrims were suffered to 
journey without molestation to the sacred city. 

The indefatigable projector soon conceived a fresh enterprise, 
far more useful, and better fitted to his natural genius. The 
late splendid and profitable adventures of the Portuguese, who, 
doubling Africa, had opened a channel to the wealth of the 
Orient, had fired the avarice and ambition of every commercial 
nation. Columbus was stilJ persuaded that the most notable 
and brilliant discovery yet remained to be made, and the 
directest jjathway to the land of jewels and spices was yet to be 
laid open. As yet, no token of Asian wealth and civilization 
had been met in any of the extensive tracts explored by him- 
self or his contemporaries. He now began to consider South 
America as a separate main-land, but still clung firmly to the 
belief that Cuba was a part of the great Asiatic Continent. 
The impetuous current which runs between them, he concluded, 
must flow from the Indian Sea, which in his opinion was con- 
nected with the Atlantic by a strait somewhere in the neigh 



122 isronTH and south America. 

borhood of what is now known as the isthmus of Darien. 
This strait, the pathway to the golden shores of the East, he 
now proposed to discover and explore. 

This enterprising plan met with the favor of the sovereigns, 
who were still willing to employ in extending their territoiies 
the man whom they had deprived of his right to rule them ; 
and he was accordingly empowered to fit out a suitable expedi- 
tion forthwith. Certain persons, learned in Arabic, were pro- 
vided to further communication with the Grand Khan, the cap- 
ital of ^^'llich slippery potentate he now fully expected to attain. 
lie was also permitted to take with him his natural son Fer- 
nando, and his brother the adelantado. With great injustice, 
however, the sovereigns forbade him to touch at the island of 
Hispaniola, a matter almost of necessity in a voyage of such 
length as he contemplated. Indeed, they solemnly assured him 
that his honors and dignities should be restored to him, and be 
enjoyed both by him and his posterity ; but he probabl}^ by 
this time began to be aware of the hollo wness and insincerity 
of royal professions. Meanwhile, the preparations for his voy- 
age went on slowly, owing to the insidious artifices and obsta- 
cles contrived by his enemy Fonseca. It was not until the 9th 
of May, 1502, that Columbus sailed from Cadiz on the last of 
his arduous voyages of discovery. At the age of sixty-six, 
with a frame broken down by hardship and exposure, and a 
mind depressed by persecution and ingratitude, he once more 
set forth on the noble enterprise of uniting the long-severed 
regions of the earth. His command consisted of four small 
caravels and one hundred and fifty men. lie touched at the 
Canaries, and on the 25th took his departure for the western 
continent. After a brief stoj)page at the Carribee islands, he 
sailed for St. Domingo, trusting to replace at that port one of 
his vessels, the bad sailing of which retarded the others. The 
jealous Ovando, however, would not permit him to land, and 
even forbade him to take refuge in the harbor against a storm 
whose approach he apprehended. 

Thus ungraciously repulsed, yet ever mindful of the public 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 123 

good, Columbus entreated the governor to delay for a short 
time the sailing of the fleet which was ready to depart for 
Spain — his experienced eye detecting, amid the apparent tran- 
quillity of the weather, strong signs of an approaching hurricane. 
11 is counsel was disregarded, and he hastened to find shelter 
for his own vessels in some unfrequented harbor or river of 
the coast. The fleet set sail, and within two days an awfid 
hurricane arose. Many of the vessels were entirely lost, among 
them the principal ship of the squadron, containing Koldan, 
Bobadilla, and the ill-fated Guarionex. A vast quantity of 
treasure, wrung from the sufferings of the Indians, was also 
swallowed up ; and the only vessel which was enabled to pur- 
sue the voyage was one which contained the property of Co- 
lumbus—a circumstance which occasioned him and his friends 
to look upon this terrible disaster as an especial judgment 
against his persecutors. 

Escaping with much difficulty from the tempest which had 
Avhelmed his enemies, the admiral in the month of July steered 
for Terra Firma in quest of his conjectured strait. He was at 
first drawn by currents to the southern shore of Cuba, and 
thence stretching south-west he discovered on the 30th a small 
island, which still retains its Indian name of Guanaja. It lies 
near the coast of Honduras, whose mountains are visible to the 
south. Here the Spaniards were surprised by the appearance 
of an immense canoe, which had probably come from Yucatan. 
It was filled with Indians, whose utensils indicated a consider- 
able degree of art and ingenuity. There were copper bells and 
hatchets, and many curious and useful fabrics on board. 
Columbus now reasonably supposed that he was approach- 
ing a more civilized country: and had he pursued the 
direction which these people indicated, might soon have fallen 
upon the wealthy regions which lie to the westward of the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

Eager, however, to prosecute his intended discovery, he set 
sail for the mainland, and, passing Cape Honduras, steered 
eastward along the coast in quest of the desired strait. On 



124 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEKICA. 

landing, the natives, as usual, displayed great kindness and 
hospitality. 

The fleet now struggled eastward for forty days amid a suc- 
cession of tropical tempests and continual foul weather. It 
was not until the 14th of September that they rounded that 
point whence the coast runs southward, and which, in gratitude 
for his success, the admiral named Cape Gracias a Dios. lie 
coasted for about sixty leagues along what is now called tlie 
Muscpiito Coast, and lost a boat's-crew, which he had dispatched 
up a river, by one of those tei'rible conflicts between the ocean 
and the stream which are peculiar to these shores. Leaving 
this "Eiver of Disaster," he sailed onward, and on the 25th 
of September anchored his tempest-worn squadron in a beau- 
tiful harbor, formed by an island and the main-land. 

A friendly intercourse was soon established with the natives, 
interrupted only by the mutual superstition of both parties. 
Don Bartholomew, seeking information from the Indians re- 
specting their country, had ordered a notary-public to write 
down their replies; but no sooner had that official produced 
his mj-sterious implements, than the Indians dispersed in great 
terror, believing that some magical spell was intended to be 
thrown over them. To counteract the supposed enchantment, 
they burned a fragrant powder, the smoke of which, wafted to 
the Spaniards, might dispel the evil effects of their necromancy. 
The latter, in their turn, supposed themselves to be bewitched 
by the natives, and attributed all the bad luck and tempestuous 
weather which they had encountered to the magical charms 
of these worshippers of the devil. Columbus himself inclined 
to the same belief, and, in a letter to the sovereigns, assured 
them that the natives of this place (Cariari) were notable 
enchanters. 

On the 5th of October, he again set sail, following the shore 
of Costa Rica, and soon anchored in a great bay, where he 
had been assured gold was to be found in abundance. The 
channel of this bay (Carnabaco) by which he entered, is still 
called the " Boca del Almirantc " (Mouth of the Admiral). The 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 125 

natircs were soon in friendly intercourse, and exclianged for 
trifles large plates of the precious metal. 

Disregarding the eagerness of his men to pursue this lucra- 
tive traffic, the admiral pressed on in quest of the strait. He 
sailed bj the rich coast of Veragua, finding gold very plentiful 
Avherever he landed. The generous desire of effecting a grand 
discovery however, prevented him from lingering in these 
inviting regions. He had now found, as he imagined, a track 
to civilization. He had met with evidences of masonry, and 
his mind was inflamed by the misunderstood reports of the 
natives. They described a province to the westward, called 
Ciguare, of great wealth and prosperity, with all the appurte- 
nances of art and civilization. This was probably an exagger- 
ated account of the distant and powerful empire of Peru ; and 
certainly Columbus was chiefly indebted to his own imagina- 
tion for the artillery, the cavalry, and the navies, which he 
supposed the Indians to describe, and especially for his belief 
in the vicinitj^ of the Grand Khan and the Eiver Ganges. He 
pressed onward, and on the 2d of November anchored in the 
beautifal harbor of Porto Bello, which still bears the name 
which he bestowed. 

He next made Cape Nombre de Dios; but the adverse and 
tempestuous weather prevented him from advancing any fur- 
ther. His crews were worn out with contending against storms, 
and his vessels were so leaky, from the ravages of worms, that 
it seemed almost hopeless to proceed. He relinquished, there- 
fore, for the present, his search for the continually-retreating 
strait, the existence of which, perhaps, he began to doubt, and 
turned his prows to the rich coast of Veragua. "Here then," 
his biographer elegantly remarks, " ended the lofty anticipations 
which had elevated Columbus above all mercenary interests; 
which had made him regardless of hardships and perils; and 
had given a heroic character to the early part of his voyage. 
It is true he had been in pursuit of a mere chimera, but it was 
the chimera of a splendid imagination and a penetrating judg- 
ment. If he was disappointed in his expectation of finding 



126 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

a strait through the isthmus of Darien, it was because naturo 
herself liad beeu disappointed; for she appears to have at- 
tempted to make one, but to have attempted it in vain." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ATTEMPT TO FOUND A SETTLEMENT HOSTILITIES WITH THE INDIANS 

THE VESSELS STRANDED ON THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA PERILOUS 

SITUATION OF THE SPANIARDS REMARKABLE DEVICE OF 

COLUMBUS TO OBTAIN SUPPLIES. 

Fresh storms and tempests beset the squadron on its return, 
and the hves of all, for many days, were in the most imminent 
peril; and it Avas not until January, 1503, that the sea- worn 
and almost foundering vessels arrived near the river of Vera- 
gua. Amicable intercourse was at once established with the 
Indians, and considerable quantities of gold were readily col- 
lected. In February, the adelantado, with a force of sixty-eight 
men, undertook to ascend the river and explore the mines, 
reputed to be of such incalculable wealth, Quibia, the power- 
ful cacique of this region, though jealous of the intrusion, 
received him respectfully, and furnished him with guides. In 
this expedition and others, traces of great metallic wealth were 
found, both in the soil and on the persons of the natives, and 
large quantities of the precious ore w^ere collected. The pious 
and classical imagination of the admiral, kindled by a sugges- 
tion in Josephus, now grasped the conclusion that he had 
arrived at the Aurea Chersonesus, whence Solomon had pro- 
cured his gold for the building of the Holy Temple. 

He resolved, therefore, to establish a colony in this inviting 
spot; eighty men were selected to remain; and preparations 
for the erection of a fortress and habitations were carried on 
with much energy. The enmity of the natives, however, pre- 
vented the success of the plan, and occasioned great disasters 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 127 

to the expedition. Quibia assembled liis men, and made every 
preparation for the surprise and massacre of the colonists. His 
intentions, for the time, were frustrated by the boldness and 
activity of one Diego Mendez, a notary, who penetrated to his 
town, and, undismayed by the hundreds of heads which lay 
bleaching before the palace, discovered the plot, and escaped 
imharmed to his countrymen. 

On learning these ominous news, the adelantado, with a 
strong force, set out to surprise the hostile chieftain. Coming 
suddenly upon his quarters, the Spaniards seized their enemy 
and all his household, with much booty. All were conveyed 
safely to the ships, except their most dangerous prisoner, Qui- 
bia, who, with savage artifice and courage, escaped by flinging 
himself into the water. Though bound hand and foot, he 
managed to swim on shore, and betook himself to his deso- 
lated home. Filled with grief and indignation, he assembled 
his warriors, and made a furious attack on the settlement ; but 
the Spaniards, protected by their houses, and ably commanded 
by Bartholomew and Mendez, succeeded in repulsing the sav- 
ages, and they retreated with much loss. 

The defeated cacique, however, obtained his revenge on the 
same day by the massacre of a boat's-crew of ten Spaniards, 
which had incautiously ascended the river for supplies. As 
the mangled bodies of their comrades came floating down the 
stream, the little garrison was filled with dismay, while the 
dismal whoops and drumming that resounded from the forest 
indicated that the number of their enemies was contiually in- 
creasing. For nine days they remained in a state of siege and 
distress, nothing but the terror of their artillery saving them 
from destruction at the hands of the enraged savages. The 
admiral was prevented by the boisterous weather and the heavy 
surf from sending them any assistance. Of the numerous cap- 
tives whom he held confined under hatches in his vessel, a ])art 
escaped by swimming, and all the remainder, in the most reso- 
lute manner, committed suicide by strangling themselves. 

Communication with the shore was at last restored ; and as 



128 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the settlement appeared devoted to certain destruction, if the 
garrison remained, Cokimbus, with much difficulty, succeeded 
in roembarking his men, with all their valuable stores. One 
of the caravels was left stranded and rotting in the river, and 
with the remainder, in the latter part of April, 1503, he made 
his way to the harbor of Porto Bello. Here another of his 
vessels, pierced in every direction by the worms, was aban- 
doned, and all the crews were crowded into the two remaining 
caravels, which were little better than wrecks. The admiral 
tried to make Hispaniola, but was carried by strong currents 
to the westward, and on the 30th of May found himself on 
the southern shore of Cuba. Terrible storms again beset his 
course, and finding that he could not keep his ships afloat 
much longer, he was compelled to run for Jamaica. On the 
24th of June he made a harbor of that island, which is called 
to this day "Don Christopher's Cove;" and as the ships were 
ready to sink, he ran them aground, where they soon filled 
with water up to the decks. 

The situation of Columbus was now perilous and perplexing 
in the extreme; but he took the wisest and most energetic 
measures for the safety and rescue of his people. Houses were 
built upon the stranded caravels as a protection against any 
attack by the natives, and all precautions were taken to avoid 
hostilities. The neighboring caciques, by the untiring exer- 
tions of Mendez, soon entered into an engagement for supplying 
the shipwrecked mariners with provisions. Then this daring 
and admirable man, who had already performed the greatest 
services to the expedition, volunteered for the forlorn and haz- 
ardous enterprise of going to Hispaniola for relief The dis- 
tance was forty leagues, through a sea abounding in furious 
currents and liable to boisterous weather; yet with an Indian 
canoe, manned by six natives, he undertook to reach the Span- 
ish settlement at St. Domingo. On his first attempt, he was 
taken captive by hostile Indians, wliile endeavoring to gain the 
eastern end of the island as a safer point of departure. He 
escaped with difficulty; but, undismayed, again set f )rt]i, ac- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 129 

companied by another canoe, under command of Fiesco, a 
Genoese, and captain of one of the caravels. 

By these adventurers Columbus dispatched letters to van do, 
entreating assistance, and others to the court, detailing his dis- 
coveries, and enlarging on their importance. In this mournfid 
seclusion from the world, his religious enthusiasm revived with 
great ardor, and he eagerly proffered his services as a mission- 
ary in the long-cherished enterprise of converting the Khan, 
whose dominions he supposed himself to have approached. In 
the midst of grand and enthusiastic anticipations, however, he 
suddenly awoke to a sense of his forlorn and desolate condition, 
and he breaks forth in an affecting appeal: "Until now," he 
says, "I have wept for others; have pity upon me. Heaven, and 
weep for me, earth ! In mj temporal concerns, without a farth- 
ing to give in offering; in spiritual concerns, cast away here 
in the Indies ; isolated in my misery, infirm, expecting each 
day will be my last; surrounded by cruel savages, separated 
from the holy sacraments of the church, so that my soul will 
be lost, if separated here from my body. * * If it should 
please God to deliver me from hence, I humbly supplicate your 
majesties to permit me to repair to Eome, and perform other 
pilgrimages." 

The little canoes receded till they were mere specks, and 
finally vanished in the ocean. Month after month elapsed, and 
still no tidings came of their adventurous commanders. The 
crews, weary of confinement and hopeless of relief, began to 
grow mutinous. One Francisco Porras, who had commanded a 
caravel, was the chief mover of sedition ; and it was resolved to 
seize the canoes which Columbus had purchased, and to make 
an attempt to reach Hispaniola. On the 2d of January, 1504, 
forty-eight of the discontented faction openly defied the au- 
thority of the admiral, who, crippled by the gout and enfeebled 
by old age, was unable to exert his wonted energy and authority. 
They seized the canoes and put to sea, taking a number of 
Indians with them to serve as rowers. A stormy wind soon 
arose, and these cruel men, fearing for their safety, coui])clled 



130 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the Indians, at the point of the sword, to leap overboard. 
Eighteen were thus cruelly murdered, and the Spaniards, re- 
gaining the land, passed in a predatory way from village to vil- 
lage, plundering the natives, and committing various excesses. 

The horrors of famine soon menaced the numerous body of 
men which still remained under the command of Colmnbus. 
The Indians were no longer covetous of the trinkets of the 
white men, which had become so common among them as to 
be almost valueless. They were also deeply provoked by the 
conduct of the rebels, and trusted, by withholding supplies, to 
starve the intruders or compel them to quit the island. In 
this emergency, the admiral conceived a subtle device, worthy 
of the genius of Ulysses. His skill in astronomy had informed 
him that there would occur in a few. days a total eclipse of the 
moon. On the day before this event he summoned all the 
caciques to a grand council, and informed them that the God 
of the Spaniards, angry at their neglect of his worshippers, 
was about to visit their island with plague and famine. As a 
token of this, they would see the moon, on that very night, 
fade away from the face of the heavens. 

Despite their scoffing, the natives awaited with anxiety the 
coming of evening; and when they beheld the truth of the 
fearful prediction, were seized with uncontrollable and frantic 
terror. They hurried to the ships with provisions, and with mis- 
erable lamentations besought the admiral to intercede with his 
Deity in their behalf, and promised implicit obedience for the 
future. Amid universal bowlings and entreaties for protection, 
he retired to his cabin; and reappearing, after a decent inter- 
val, informed them that his God had consented to pardon them, 
on condition of their good conduct — in token whereof he 
would withdraw the moon from her engulfment in darkness. 
The Indians were overwhelmed with joy at the renewed 
splendor of that beautiful luminary ; and from that time were 
diligent in supplying the mysterious strangers with all neces- 
sary provisions. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 131 



CHAPTER XIX. 

DESPICABLE CONDUCT OF OVANDO FINAL RESCUE OF COLUMBUS ATRO- 
CITIES OF THE SPANIARDS IN HISPANIOLA SUBJECTION AND 

EXTERMINATION OF THE NATIVES. 

It was now eight months since the departure of Mendez and 
Fiasco, and even the most sanguine began to admit the griev- 
ous probability that their frail barks had been swallowed up 
in the ocean. These daring and resolute men, however, had 
accomplished their undertaking, and after a voyage of terrible 
suifering, during which several of their Indians perished, had 
succeeded in reaching the shores of Hispaniola. But the sel- 
fish and unfeehng Ovando, intent upon his own affairs, deferred 
month after month sending the desired relief, and even pro- 
hibited Mendez, for more than half a year, from using his 
personal exertions in behalf of his companions. He probably 
hoped that the renowned admiral, of whose fame he was jeal- 
ous, and to whom he knew the succession of the viceroyalty 
had b^n promised, might perish in the mean time, for want of 
aid. At length, to satisfy his curiosity, he sent a small caravel 
to ascertain the condition of the shipwrecked mariners. This 
vessel, commanded by an enemy of Columbus, brought a mere 
mockery of relief and a promise of future assistance; but 
after a brief interview stood off to sea, without taking a single 
man from the wrecks. 

The admiral, though deeply indignant at this neglect and 
desertion, endeavored to reassure his people and support their 
hopes. He even offered pardon to the rebels, and a passage 
home in the expected caravel, on condition of their return to 
allegiance. But Porras, dreading lest some punishment should 
be reserved for him, took all possible pains to rekindle the 
flames of mutiny. He encouraged his band by assuring them 
of the protection of his influential relations in Spain, lie also 
asserted (and perhaps believed) that the caravel which had so 



132 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

mysteriously come and disappeared in a few hours, was no real 
vessel, but a mere phantasmal appearance, produced by the 
necromantic skill of the admiral. By such representations he 
induced them to reject the proffered reconciliation, and even 
to resolve on seizing the person of Columbus, and plundering 
the vessels. 

On learning of this nefarious project, Don Bartholomew, 
with fifty men, well armed, went forth to meet the mutineers. 
The latter attacked his party with great fury; but, by the 
skill and courage of the adelantado, were completely defeated. 
He killed several of them with his own hand, seized Porras, 
and put the rest to flight. On the following day, the fugitives 
(their insolence changed to the most abject submission) sent in 
a petition to the admiral, begging forgiveness. They swore 
fresh allegiance on a cross and a missal, imprecating fearful 
penalties on their heads if ever they should ofi'end again ; that 
they might die without confession or absolution from the jDope, 
or from any cardinal, archbishop, bishop, or any manner of 
priest; that they should be deprived of the Holy Sacraments; 
that their bodies might be cast into the field as heretics and 
renegades; and, to make all sure, that they should t^ke no 
benefit at their death from any bulls or indulgences. All 
were pardoned except Porras, who was detained as a prisoner. 

At length, after a year of confinement in his island-prison, 
Columbus, with great joy, beheld two ships standing into the 
harbor. One of these had been dispatched by the faithful 
Mendez, who had finally, with great difiiculty, gained permis- 
sion to assist his suflcring comrades. The other was sent by 
Ovando, whom the popular indignation had compelled to 
extend a semblance of assistance. On the 28th of June, lolU 
the Spaniards, wearied by their long confinement on the island, 
embarked for Hispaniola; and, after a harassing voyage of 
nearly two months, landed in St. Domingo. The populace, by 
a revulsion of feeling common enough, welcomed the ship- 
wrecked admiral with the greatest enthusiasm. The governor 
also received him with great distinction, and paid him many 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, 133 

hypocritical attentions, the true value of which their object 
fully appreciated. 

During the long absence of Columbus, the most disgraceful 
and terrible scenes had occurred, and Ovando had loaded his 
name with eternal infamy. His administration had commenced 
with misfortunes. Of the numerous body of adventurers whom 
he had brought, upwards of a thousand soon perished from 
exposure, fatigue, and disappointment — the fruits of their eager 
and indiscreet rapacity for gold. The governor restored a 
semblance of prosperity to the island by inflicting incalculable 
oppressions on the Indians. These unhappy beings, reduced 
to the most intolerable servitude, wasted away rapidly before 
the unaccustomed toils and privations to which they were sub- 
jected. Within twelve years from the discovery of the island, 
it is said that several hundreds of thousands perished from this 
unendurable bondage. 

Ovando, on some uncertain report of a conspiracy in Xara- 
gua, hastened thither with his army, and was received by the 
Indian queen and her caciques with great friendliness and 
hospitality. After several days of apparently the most cordial 
intercourse, he suddenly seized a large number of the caciques, 
(more than forty,) and after inflicting the most cruel tortures, 
burned them all alive in a house which he set on fire. Mean- 
while, his soldiery committed a horrible massacre upon the 
multitude of unarmed natives, who had assembled to do them 
honor, and to join in the simple national amusements. The 
generous queen, Anacaona, the constant friend and ally of the 
whites, was ignominiously hanged ; and for many months after- 
wards the Spaniards ravaged this unhappy province, putting 
great numbers to the sword, and reducing the remainder to the 
most deplorable slavery. 

All the native sovereignties of Hayti, except that of Higuey, 
had now been brought under the yoke of the Spaniards. The 
Indians of that warlike province were ruled by a cacique named 
Cotubanama, a man of gigantic size and intrepid courage. In 
a war which the cruelty of the Spaniards provoked, he con- 



134 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

ducted himself witTi kingly resolution and magnanimity. 
After a long and desperate contest, however, the usual fate of 
the natives overtook them. Great numbers perished by the 
sword, and the prisoners were subjected to the most hideous 
and revolting torments. Their brave and chivalrous chieftain 
was finally taken and hanged, and the whole country was 
reduced to complete subjection. 

The indignation of Columbus, who always cherished the 
hope of exercising a mild, if an absolute sway over the Indians, 
was strongly excited by these atrocities. In a letter to the 
court, he writes, "I am informed that since I left this island, 
six parts out of seven of the natives are dead; all through ill- 
treatment and inhumanity; some by the sword, others by 
blows and cruel usage, others through hunger. The greater 
part have perished in the mountains and glens, whither they 
had fled, from not being able to support the labor imposed 
upon them." Unfortunately, the evil example which the writer 
himself had set in enslaving the Indians, gave him less claim 
to complain of the atrocities by which the system had been 
disgraced; and the immense amount of gold, the price of all 
this suffering and extermination, was an ample apology to 
Ferdinand for the means which had been used to obtain it. 
The kind-hearted Isabella was overcome with horror and in- 
dignation on learning of these cruelties, and with her dying 
breath exacted from Ferdinand a promise that he would recall 
Ovando — a promise broken as lightly as others made by that 
selfish and false-hearted sovereign. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 135 

CHAPTER XX. 

RETURN OF COLUMBUS TO SPAIN INJUSTICE OF FERDINAND DEATH OF 

COLUMBUS DISPOSAL OF HIS REMAINS. 

Ok the 12th of September, 1504, the aged admiral, having 
exhausted all his available funds in providing for his crews 
(the rebels as well as the others), set sail for Spain, on the last of 
his many voyages. After a tedious and tempestuous passage 
of nearly two months, he arrived at San Lucar, and soon after, 
exhausted by old age and toil, was borne to Seville. His few 
remaining days were doomed to privation, ingratitude, and 
fruitless appeals to the justice of the court. Through the dis- 
honesty of Ovando, who withheld his funds, he was reduced to 
actual penury, and seems at times to have wanted the necessa- 
ries of life. "Little have I- profited," he writes affectingly to 
his son, "by twenty years of service, with such toils and per- 
ils, since at present I do not own a roof in Spain, If I desire 
to eat or sleep, I have no resort but an inn, and, for the most 
times, have not wherewithal to pay the bill." 

Increasing infirmities incapacitated him from appearing at 
court, and urging his claims in person ; by letters and by the 
intervention of his friends he vainly besought the restitution 
of his rights and dignities. He had trusted to the justice of 
Isabella, and her remembrance of his faithful services ; but the 
death of that admirable princess, soon after his arrival in Spain, 
left him dependant on the caprice and selfishness of her un- 
worthy consort. By May, 1505, he had recovered sufficiently 
to travel to court; where he was received by the king with 
many hollow smiles and insincere professions. The monarch 
continually evaded or delayed the fulfilment of his promises; 
and the aged admiral, feeling that his life was drawing to a 
close, ceased to urge his numerous claims upon the royal jus- 
tice. He only besought that his son Diego might receive the 
appointment to which, by solemn agreement, he was entitled. 
"This" he said "is a matter which touches upon my honor. 



136 NORTH AND SOUTH AX^ERICA. 

As to all the rest, do as your majesty thinks proper; give or 
withhold, as may be most for your interest, and I shall be 
content." But the cold-hearted Ferdinand still procrastinated, 
well knowing that in a little time death would deliver him 
from an applicant whom he could not honorably refuse. " It 
appears," wrote the admiral from his sick bed, "that his majesty 
does not think fit to fulfil that which he has promised me by 
word and seal, with the queen who is now in glory. For me 
to contend for the contrar}^ would be to contend with the wind. 
I have done all that I could do. I leave the rest to God, 
whom I have ever found propitious to me in my necessities." 

The last moments of the great discoverer were drawing near. 
The iron frame which had proved equal to so many hardships, 
was finally worn out by old age and constant exposure, with 
their attendant maladies ; and the brave and indefatigable spirit 
which no danger could awe, and no misfortune could discour- 
age, was sinking fast under the weary burden of neglect and 
ingratitude. He made his will, providing carefully, from the 
value of his rightful possessions, for the maintainance of his 
honorable name and the welfare of all who had a claim on his 
protection or justice — taking care even for the payment of a 
single piece of silver to a poor Jew in the city of Lisbon. He 
also made liberal provision for the poor of his native city of 
Genoa. Having thus equitably settled his earthly affairs, and 
received those consolations of the church on which he set so 
high a value, he expired with great tranquillity, murmuring, 
with his last breath, "Into thy hands, oh Lord, I commend my 
spirit." He died on the 20th of May, 1506, being about seventy 
years of age. 

The monarch who had meanly withheld his rights, and neg- 
lected his old age, erected a monument to his honor (and to 
his own disgrace), commemorating in simple words the inesti 
mable services which had never been rewarded: 

"FOR CASTILLA Y FOR LEON 
NUEVO MUNDO HALLO COLON." 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 137 

The remains of Columbus were first deposited in the Francis- 
can convent at Valladolid, and seven years afterwards were 
removed to that of the Carthusians at Seville. In 1636, the 
body of the admiral, with that of his son Diego, was transported 
over seas to the cathedral of St. Domingo, in his favorite island 
of Hispaniola. Even here these precious relics, condemned to 
wander like their illustrious tenant, were not suifered to find 
their final resting-place. After lying in this cathedral for t^vo 
hundred and sixty years, they were again removed, in 1795, 
on the cession of that island to the French. 

With the most solemn and impressive ceremonies, the mould- 
ering remains of the great admiral were disinterred, enclosed in 
an urn, and, accompanied by the highest military and ecclesias- 
tic pomp, were conveyed to the city of Havana, in the island 
of Cuba. There, amid all the honors which Spain could be- 
stow on her greatest benefactor, they were deposited, with the 
utmost reverence and solemnity, in the wall of the cathedral, 
at the right of the grand altar. There they still remain, the 
object of eager interest and enthusiastic pilgrimage. No 
American, while standing, as the writer has stood, before this 
tomb, the most memorable in the western world, can feel other 
than reverent and sympathizing emotions toward the grand 
spirit by whose sublime conceptions and indefatigable en- 
durance the ends of the earth, immemorially dissevered, were 
brought together; nor refrain from paying that sincere tribute 
of gratitude which, in common with a vast hemisphere, he owes 
to its discoverer. 



SEBASTIAN CABOT, 

THE DISCOYERER OF NORTH AMERICA. 



YOUTH OF CABOT HIS DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT 

HIS SECOND VOYAGE FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE LABRADOR 

LONG BLANK IN THE LIFE OF CABOT HE ENTERS THE SERVICE 

OF SPAIN RETURNS TO ENGLAND — UNSUCCESSFUL EXPEDI- 
TION UNDER HENRY VIII. APPOINTED CHIEF PILOT OF 

SPAIN HIS EXPEDITION TO SOUTH AMERICA HIS 

RETURN TO ENGLAND HIS USEFUL AND 

HONORABLE OLD AGE. 

It is to be lamented that so few and imperfect memorials exist 
of the life of one whose renown, as an American discoverer, 
should be second only to that of Colmiibus. Of the earliest 
and most interesting portion of his career, only the briefest 
details have survived. Sebastian, the son of John Cabot, an 
eminent Venetian merchant and navigator, was born at Bristol, 
in England, about the year 1477. At the age of four he was 
removed to Yenice by his father, a man of considerable acquire- 
ments, and there, considering the period, received an excellent 
education. In that maritime republic he naturally became 
skilful in navigation and imbued with the taste for adventure. 
While still a youth he returned to England. All western 
Europe was at this time fired with enthusiasm by the splendid 
discoveries of the Great Admiral ; and the enterprising family 
of the Cabots was especially excited to a generous emulation. 
"By this fame and report," says Sebastian, "there increased 
in my heart a great flame of desire to attempt some notable 
thing." 



SEBASTIAN CABOT. 139 

In March, 1496, Henry VII., who had barely missed tlie 
renown of the first discovery, granted a patent to John Cabot 
and his three sons — Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius — "to sail to 
all parts, countries, and seas of the East, of the West, and of 
the North, to seek out and find whatsoever isles, countries, 
regions or provinces of the heathen and infidels, whatsoever 
they may be, and in what part of the world soever they be, 
which before this time have been unknown to all Christians." 
A north-western passage to India was the primary object of 
this expedition, in which, although his father, from his wealth 
and age, was first named, Sebastian, yet a youth of nineteen, 
was the chief mover and commander. 

In the spring of 1497, with five ships, he set sail fi'om Bris- 
tol, with his father, and first directed his course to Iceland. 
Hence, after some delay, they took their departure to the west- 
ward, and on the 24th of June beheld land stretching before 
them. It was a portion of the coast of Labrador, with the 
island of Newfoundland. This momentous discovery does not 
seem to have excited any great feeling of exultation. "After 
certayne days," says Cabot, " I found that the land ranne to- 
wards the North, which was to mee a great displeasure," "not 
thinking to find any other laude than Cathay," On entering 
the passage into Hudson's Bay, however, the desired channel 
seemed to have been found; and for several days the fleet 
pressed westward. But the crews, discouraged by the length 
of the voyage and the failure of their provisions, insisted on 
returning, and the youthful commander was compelled to com- 
ply. After coasting some way southward along the Atlantic 
shore, he returned to England. 

In February, 1498, a fresh patent, in the same terms, was 
issued by the king, and soon afterwards John Cabot (to whom, 
without sufficient reason, the chief credit of the first discovery 
has been commonly given) expired. The particulars of this 
next expedition, which sailed under Sebastian, in the Spring 
of 1498, are scanty in the extreme. He took with him three 
hundred men, for the purpose of founding a colony, and landed 



140 ' NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tliem on tlie inhospitable coast of Labrador. While, witli the 
fleet, he was absent on an unrecorded and -unsuccessful search 
for the north-west passage, these unfortunate people suffered 
greatly from cold and exposure, though "the dayes were very 
longe and in a manner without nyght." Numbers perished, 
and the remainder, on his return, refused to remain any longer 
in this inclement region. He took them on board, and then, 
after coasting the North American sea-board as far south as 
Florida, recrossed the Atlantic. 

The king, disappointed in his expected profits, received him 
coldly, and would furnish no assistance for fresh explorations. 
Sebastian, however, from his own means, fitted out vessels at 
Bristol, and, as it is said, "made great discoveries," mostly to 
the southward. The account of his life, during a long period, 
however, is almost a blank, and little authentic is known of 
his movements until 1512. In that year Ferdinand of Spain, 
appreciating his abilities, sent for him, and secured his services 
by a liberal allowance. He was employed in the improvement 
of maps and charts, and in 1515 was made a member of the 
Council of the Indies. He was also appointed as commander 
of an expedition to seek the Indies by a westerly passage; but 
the death of his patron, in 1516, and the consequent ascendancy 
of his rivals, destroyed his prospects, and he returned to his 
native country. 

He was soon distinguished by the favor of Henry VIII., 
then on the throne, and was entrusted with the command of a 
fresh expedition of discovery. Little is known of this voyage, 
except that he penetrated to the sixty-seventh degree of North 
latitude, and that Hudson's Bay was more thoroughly explored. 
But the severity of the climate, the mutinous disposition of his 
crews, and the timorousness of his second in command. Sir 
Thomas Pert, ("whose faint heart was the cause that the voy- 
age took none effect, ") prevented him from proceeding, and he 
returned to England. 

Meanwhile, Charles V., who had succeeded Ferdinand, 
became aware of the intrigues of the enemies of Cabot. He 



'SEBASTIAN- CABOT. 141 

recalled him to Spain, and appointed him to tlie honorable and 
lucrative office of Chief Pilot, formerly held by Americus 
Vespucius (1518). 

The discovery of the Strait of Magellan had given a fresh 
impetus to Spanish adventure; and in 1525 Cabot was ap- 
pointed to the command of an expedition of three ships to pass 
that channel in quest of the Moluccas. On this enterprise, 
which he had suggested, he embarked early in April, 1526, 
and after touching at the Canaries and the Cape de Verde Isl- 
ands, arrived off Cape St. Augustine, and laid his course to the 
southward. The character of Cabot is described as having 
been exceedingly kindly and courteous ; yet, on occasion, like 
Columbus, he could act with promptness and severity. Dis- 
covering, at this time, the existence of a dangerous conspiracy 
among his followers, he suddenly suppressed it by seizing the 
three ringleaders, though high in authority, and setting them 
ashore on the nearest island. These men, of course, were ever 
afterwards his bitter enemies. 

One of his vessels was lost by shipwreck, and, considering 
the crippled state of the expedition, he relinquished his original 
project, and turned up the great river La Plata, to effect an 
inland exploration. In this attempt, a few years before, De 
Solis, his predecessor in office, had failed, and, with his crew 
of fifty men, had been killed and devoured by the savages. 
He left his ships at San Salvador, at the junction of the Parana 
and the Uraguay, and proceeded up the former river with liis 
lighter craft. A little way up, he erected a fort, still called the 
"Sanctus Spiritus" (Holy Ghost), and despite the discontent and 
mortality of his people, proceeded to trace the river upward, 
through a land "very fayre and inhabited with infinite people." 
He made friends of these natives, and thus "came to learn many 
secrets of the country." From the abundance of gold and sil- 
ver ornaments among them, he justly conjectured that wcaltliy 
mines lay at the head waters of the streams he was exploring. 
He finally passed into the Paraguay, which he ascended for 
thirty-four leagues. His party was then compelled to engage 



142 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

in a fierce conflict with the hostile savages, whom they repulsed 
with a loss of three hundred men. Twenty-five of their own 
number had fallen. 

The court of Portugal, jealous of the increasing colonies of 
the Spaniards, had secretly dispatched an expedition to follow 
the track of Cabot, and, if possible, to disconcert his enterjorise. 
Garcia, the commander, in 1527, entered the La Plata, and 
demanded the surrender of the fort. This impudent request 
being refused, he proceeded up the river, and made a similar 
demand on the enfeebled party of Cabot. What passed be- 
tween the rival commanders is not known; but both parties 
returned to the fort, and Garcia, having left a large force in 
its vicinity, sailed aAvay. 

Cabot sent an account of these transactions to the emperor, 
with a request for supplies and a strong reinforcement. 
Charles promised compliance, but his exchequer was empty ; 
and the tempting offers of Pizarro, who at his own risk pro- 
posed extensive conquests for the crown, diverted the royal 
attention to this more profitable undertaking. Cabot was suf- 
fered to remain unrelieved, and finally, with the remnant of 
his company, was driven from the country by a tribe of savages, 
infuriated by the offences of the Portuguese. He landed in 
Spain in 1531, after an absence of five years, on an expedition 
which, though unsuccessful, had considerably added to the 
knowledge of the South American Continent. 

He resumed his office of Chief Pilot, being at this time 
about fifty-three years of age. His reputation as a discoverer 
and a skilful mariner, despite his many misfortunes, was ex- 
ceedingly high. A contemporary says, "He is so valiant a 
man, and so well practised in all things pertaining to naviga- 
tions, and the science of cosmographie, that at this present he 
hath not his like in all Spaine, insomuch that for his vertues 
he is preferred above all other Pilots that saile to the West 
Indies, who may not pass thither without his license, and is 
therefore called Piloto Maggiore (that is Grand Pilot.") An- 
other writes, "I found him a very gentle and courteous person, 



SEBASTIAN CABOT. 143 

who entertained mee friendly, and showed mee many things, and 
among other a large mappe of the world," then doubtless a great 
curiosity. His cheerful and amiable temper caused his society 
to be much sought, and the doors of the learned and inquiring 
were ever open to him. "Cabot," says Peter Martyr, "is my 
very friende, whom I use familiarlie, and delight to have him 
sometime to keepe me company in mine owne house." A letter 
of his, written some years after his reinstatement in ofiice, gives 
a pleasing picture of content and tranquillity. "After this I 
made many other voyages, which I now pretermit, and waxing 
olde, I give myself to rest from such travels, because there are 
nowe many young and lustie pilots and mariners of good expe- 
rience, by whose forwardness I do rejoyce in the fruit of my 
labors, and rest with the charge of this office, as you see." 

In 1548, the aged Pilot (now seventy years old) was seized 
with a desire to revisit his native country. Though in full 
favor with the emperor, he returned to England, where his 
high reputation and the enterprising genius of the young king, 
(Edward VI.,) ensured him the most welcome reception. 
Charles, however, aggrieved at his departure, dispatched to the 
English Court a formal demand (which was not complied with) 
that "Sebastian Cabote, Grand Pilot of the Emperor's Indies, 
then in England, might be sent over to Spain, as a very neces- 
sary man for the emperor, whose servant he was, and had a 
pension of him." 

It has been supposed that he was appointed to the office of 
Grand Pilot of England; and it is known that he received by 
grant of the crown a yearly pension of " one hundred, three score 
and six pounds thirteene shillings and fourpence," to be paid 
in equal portions, says the devout document, "at the feast of 
the Annuntiation of the blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativitie of 
S. John Baptist, S. Michael ye Archangel, and the Nativitie 
of our Lord." It is not certain what were the j^recise nature 
of his duties, and indeed, in the miserable and almost extinct 
condition of the English marine, the office of Pilot would have 
been a sinecure, until the creation of a fresh commerce. 



144 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

To accomplisli this laudable object, tlie chief men of London 
began "first of all to deal and consult diligently" with the 
experienced Cabot. He advised them to seek an opening for 
their enterprise in the dreary and untraversed seas of the North. 
Three vessels, the outfit of which he zealously superintended, 
were accordingly prepared, and placed respectively under the 
command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, Richard Chancellor, and 
Cornelius Durfoorth. On the 20th of May, 1553, this expedi- 
tion sailed down the river Thames. "And being come neere 
to Greenwich (where the Court then lay) presently on the news 
thereof, the courtiers came running out, and the common peo- 
ple flockt together, standing very thick upon the shoare; the 
privie counsel, they lookt out at the windows of the court, and 
the rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers." — Halduyt. It 
seems evident that any thing in the shape of maritime enter- 
prise was, at this period, matter of great novelty and interest 
to the English. 

The melancholy fate of Sir Hugh, who, with all his com- 
pany, perished on the dismal coast of Lapland, forms one of 
the saddest pages in the history of English enterprise. The 
adventurous Chancellor, more fortunate, sailed eastward, with 
perpetual sunshine, through the northern seas, and, to the won- 
der of the Russians, landed at Archangel. Hence he proceeded 
on a sledge to Moscow, and presented himself before the empe- 
ror. Thus was laid the foundation of the important commerce 
which has ever since subsisted between England and Russia. 

Sebastian Cabot was made governor of the new company, 
and, though in extreme old age, by his experience, ability, and 
industry, soon placed the commerce of England on a respecta- 
ble and lucrative footing. It is pleasant to read of the gayety 
and alacrity which the aged Pilot (eighty years old) disjilayed 
on a visit with some of his friends to a pinnace at Gravesend. 
"They went on shore, giving to our mariners right hberal 
rewards; and the good olde gentleman, master Cabota, gave 
to the poor most liberall almcs, wishing them to praj^ for the 
good fortune and prosperous success of the Search-tlirift^ our 







S r. 1! A S T I A N C A 1! (• T. 



sebastia:n cabot. 1-15 

pinesse. And then, at the signe of the Christopher, hee and 
his friends banketed, and made mee, and them that were in 
the company great cheere; and so very joy that he had to see 
the towardness of our intended discovery, he entered into the 
dance himselfe, among the rest of the young and lusty com- 
pany ; which being ended, hee and his friends departed, most 
gently commending us to the governance of Almighty God." 

On the death of King Edward and the accession of Mary, 
Cabot met with much coldness and neglect from the court 
which he had so faithfully served. But royal favor was now 
of little importance to him, for his long and useful career was 
drawing to a close. On his death-bed, says an eye-witness, 
" he spake flightily " of a certain divine revelation (which he 
might disclose to no man) for the infallible ascertainment of 
the longitude. With his last thoughts thus amused by visions 
so suited to his mind and his past life, the Discoverer of North 
America died calmly — it is supposed in the city of London; 
but the date of his death, and the place where his remains are 
laid, have long been lost even to tradition. 
10 



AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 



ACCOUNT OF VESPUCIUS HIS VOYAGE TO SOUTH AMERICA WITH OJEDA 

HIS VOYAGES TO BRAZIL EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT AT DECEPTION. 

Compared with the original traits, and the wonderful career 
of the Great Discoverer, there is little of interest in the life or 
character of one who, by a factitious, perhaps a designedly false 
chiim, has conferred his name on the whole AVestern Hemi- 
sphere. Amerigo Vespucci (a name latinized into Americus 
Yespucius) was born at Florence on the 9th of March, 1451. 
He came of a noble, though reduced family, and received an 
excellent education, considering the times, from his uncle, 
Georgio Yespucci, a monk of the fraternity of St. Mark. 
Under the care of this learned man were several other pupils ; 
among them, Eenato, afterwards king of Sicily, with whom 
Americus subsequently corresponded. 

Yespucius engaged in commerce in his native citv, and ac- 
quired considerable wealth ; but meeting with misfortunes, was 
finally, in 1493, compelled to accept a commercial agencv in 
Spain. He went to Seville, and there, on the death of his 
employer, was engaged by the sovereigns in fitting out vessels 
for exploring expeditions. In this city, he also became ac- 
quainted with Columbus, with whom he held much discourse 
about his late discoveries. 

The memorable voyage of the Admiral, in 1498, (when he 
discovered South America) and the glowing accounts which, 
in the following year, he dispatched to Spain, awakened fresh 
excitement among the ambitions spirits of the court. Alonzo 
de Ojeda, already mentioned, had, by the favor of Bishop Fon- 
seca, been possessed of the information which Columbus had 



AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 147 

forwarded to the court ; and, with Vcspucius and others, forth- 
with fitted out an expedition for the tempting region. They 
set sail, in four ships, from near Cadiz, and with the chart of 
Columbus to guide them, and several of his late crew on board 
the fleet, they reached the continent in twenty -four days. They 
first made land at a point considerably south of that which 
Columbus had discovered, being what is now called Surinam. 

Sailing northward along the Gulf of Paria, they remarked 
the im.meuse quantity of fresh water which is here poured into 
the ocean from the Orinoco, the Essiquibo, and other great 
rivers, and finally landed on the island of Trinidad. Vespu- 
cius, in his letters, has given an interesting account of the 
inhabitants of this island, as well as of other places where he 
touched. They stopped at the Gulf of Pearls, and at the Car- 
ibbee islands, where they had a battle with the natives, in 
which the latter, in spite of their bravery, were defeated, and 
their villages were burned to the ground. 

They coasted along the island of Curacoa, and in a beautiful 
lake-like harbor, were surprised to find a village of large 
houses, built upon posts in the water, and reminding them of 
Venice. (Hence the name Venezuela, Little Venice.) Though 
he had a sharp affray with the natives of this place, Ojeda, with 
unusual forbearance, spared their singular and ingenious habit- 
ations. Thence he sailed into the Gulf of Maracaibo, where 
the adventurers were received by the Indians with great kind- 
ness and hospitality. At one time more than a thousand of 
these simple people came on board the vessels, gazing with 
wonder at all around them. At the discharge of a cannon, 
however, they leaped overboard in great numbers, — "like so 
many frogs," says Vespucius. Some singular customs, half 
misconceived, are related of these Venezuelan tribes: "They 
pray to Idols," says an old writer, "and to the Deuill, whome 
they paint in such forme as he appeareth to them. They la- 
ment their dead Lords in Songs in the night time, made of 
their prayses: that done, they rost them at a fire, and beating 
them to pouder, drinlc them in wine." 



118 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Disappointed in tlieir expectations of gold and jewels, tliese 
rovers stretched over to Hispaniola, where, as has been related, 
tlieir appearance caused some anxiety to Columbus. Eepulsed 
by the craft of Eoldan, they turned their prows to other islands, 
and busied themselves in the atrocious task of slave-catching. 
Finally, in June, 1500, they arrived at Cadiz, with their ships 
crowded with unhappy captives. These they sold as slaves, 
but the expedition proved an unprofitable one. 

In the following year (1501) Vespucius went to Portugal, 
and sailed in a vessel dispatched by King Emanuel, on a voy- 
age of discovery. This vessel touched upon Brazil, of which 
Vespucius naturally supposed himself the discoverer; and from 
tlie description which he wrote, (as from other circumstances 
presently to be mentioned) it became fiishionable to compliment 
him by calling the country America, after his name. But this 
coast had already been partially explored by Vicente Pinzon, 
the preceding year, in his cruise which resulted in the discov- 
ery of the Amazon; and Alvarez Cabral, sailing on his memo- 
rable voyage to India, had, very nearly at the same time, 
accidentally touched upon its shores. But these circumstances 
were probably unknown to Vespucius. 

On the 10th of May, 1503, he sailed in another Portuguese 
expedition, of six vessels (one of which he commanded), in- 
tended for the discovery of Malacca, renowned by report for 
its wealth in spices. His vessel, by a disaster, was separated 
from all the squadron except one, with which he made his way 
to the Brazils, and discovered "All Saints' Bay." Here he 
waited for two months, hoping to be joined by the remainder 
of the fleet, which, in case of separation, were to hold a rendez- 
vous on that coast. Seeing nothing of them, he sailed two 
hundred and sixty leagues further south, and there, during a 
stay of five months, built a fort, and loaded his ship with Bra- 
zil-wood. Leaving a garrison of twenty-four men, he then set 
sail for Lisbon, whither he arrived in June, 1501. Nothing 
more was ever heard of the vessels from which he had been 
separated. 



AMERICUS VESPUCIUS 149 

Meeting witli little reward for his services from the Portu- 
guese mouarch, in 1505 he again passed into Spain. Here 
we find him offering his services (which, however, proved una- 
vailing) to procure for Columbus the rights and dignities with- 
held by the court. He was admitted a citizen of Spain, and, 
with Vicente Pinzon, was commissioned to sail on a fresh voy- 
age of discovery. He remained at Seville for several years, 
endeavoring to fit out this expedition ; but, from some unknown 
cause, it fell through; and Vespucius was appointed to the 
lucrative and responsible office of Chief Pilot. In this emplo}'- 
ment he continued until his death, February 22d, 1512. 

By a most extraordinary piece of imposture, if committed by 
himself, or of forgery, if committed by another, the claims of 
Yespucius to the glory of the discovery of the new world, have 
now, for centuries, been seriously discussed — though, at the 
present day, few, except his Florentine countrymen, will allow 
them even the merit of plausibility, on grounds so utterly 
untenable. In a letter which he is said to have written to King 
Eenato, and which was published in 1507, an account is given 
of a voyage which he claims to have made to the coast of 
South America in 1497 — a year before the memorable expedi- 
tion of Columbus, No assertion ever stood more utterly 
unsupported. By the unanimous testimony of a host of wit- 
nesses, it has been proved that, except in this letter, none of 
his contemporaries, or of those familiar with the Spanish marine, 
had ever heard of any such voyage. His own conduct and 
the tenor of his numerous remaining letters are all directly 
opposed to the reality of any such exploit; and at this distance 
of time we are unable to decide whether the account is a forgery 
of some other person, or whether, actuated by a miserable van- 
ity, he thought it possible, at least with his correspondent, to 
arrogate to himself the discovery of the continent. It is cer- 
tainly more agreeable to suppose the former, than to admit that 
a man of the real reputation of Vespucius, and to whose good 
character Columbus himself has borne testimony, should have 
been capable of such unblushing impudence and falsehood. 



THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 

BY VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 

CHAPTER I. 

ACCOUNT OF BALBOA THE SETTLEMENT AT DARIEN RUMORS OF _A SEA 

BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS TRANSACTIONS WITH THE INDIANS. 

" Silent, upon a peak of Darien." 

Stimulated by the successes of Columbus, a host of Span- 
ish, adventurers started up, eager for the renown of discover}^, 
ambitious for the rule of provinces, and athirst for the accu- 
mulation of unimaginable treasure. Ojeda and Yes^Kicci, in 
1799, had coasted along much of South America, and had 
explored the Gulf of Venezuela — Vicente Pinzon, sailing the 
same year, had crossed the line, a^d had discovered the gi-eat 
river Amazon. Other voyages, several of them exceeding!}'- 
profitable, had been undertaken to the mainland; Ojeda and 
Nicuesa, had made explorations and founded settlements; 
and the Spaniards were becoming somewhat familiar with the 
coast of the isthmus. The most splendid and important dis- 
covery, after those of the great admiral, was in the year 1513, 
effected by the renowned Vasco Nuiiez de Balboa. 

This indefatigable man, whose name ranks among the first 
of American pioneers, was born in 1475, at Xeres de los Cab- 
elleros, in the province of Estramadura. He was of a roving, 
perhaps of a profligate disposition, and had sailed in one of the 
early expeditions to the coast of South America. lie after- 
wards took a farm in Hispaniola, but being unsuccessful, and 
fearing detention by his creditors, he smuggled himself in a 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 151 

cask on board tlie vessel of Enciso, an adventurer who was 
sailing for the coast of the isthmus. This expedition at first 
met with several misfortunes, from accident and from the justly- 
provoked hostility of the natives; but finally, under the guid- 
ance of Balboa, who had explored the coast with Bastidcs, 
the Spaniards seized on the Indian village of Darien, (situated 
on the gulf of that name,) where great spoil and comfortable 
quarters were secured (1510). 

By intrigue and by his natural talent for command, the late 
fugitive soon succeeded in deposing Enciso, and assuming to 
himself the supreme authority of the colony. Aware, however, 
of the necessity of propitiating the favor of Ferdinand by 
remittances, he made it his main object to gain an abundant 
supply of gold, and accordingly dispatched a small expedition 
into the interior, under the command of Francisco Pizarro, 
afterwards renowned and infamous for the conquest of Peru. 
This enterprise terminated in misfortune, the adventurers being 
put to flight and sorely wounded by the natives. Chance, 
however, soon crowned the designs of the governor. To bring 
the remains of an unfortunate colony from Nombre de Dios, 
he had dispatched two brigantines, which, coasting along the 
isthmus, picked up two Spanish refugees, who had been living 
with Careta, a wealthy Indian cacique. These ungrateful men, 
in return for the hospitality they had received, persuaded Bal- 
boa to attack and plunder their entertainer. With an hundred 
and thirty men, the governor marched to his village, and, taking 
him by surprise, captured all his household, and seized his 
goods. The unfortunate chief, on his arrival at Darien, sought 
an alliance with the victor, upon whom he bestowed his beau- 
tiful daughter. Peace was thus ratified, and the captives were 
released. Moreover, Balboa with a considerable force marched 
against Ponca, the enemy of his new ally, laid waste his terri- 
tories, and gained considerable booty. 

He next made a visit to the powerful cacique of Comagre, 
by whom he was most kindly entertained, and whose son, to 
propitiate his favor, presented him with sixty slaves and the 



152 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

immense sum of four thousand ounces of gold. The roj^al 
portion being deducted, Balboa commanded the remainder to 
be shared among his followers. A noisy quarrel ensued around 
the scales. Inspired \vith sudden contempt, the prince struck 
the instrimaent, and scattered the gold over the floor. "Why 
should you quarrel for such a trifle?" said he: "Behold those 
lofty mountains. Beyond them lies a mighty sea, which may 
be discerned from their summit. All the streams which floAV 
down the southern side of those mountains into that sea abound 
in gold; and the kings who reign upon its borders eat and 
drink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as plentiful and 
common among those people of the south as iron is among you 
Spaniards." He described the difficulties of the way, and the 
fierceness of the savage tribes by whom it was beset; yet 
offered his own services and those of his warriors to assist in 
an expedition to the tempting region. 

His words sank deep into the heart of Balboa, whose whole 
soul was thenceforth engrossed by the noble ambition of en- 
rolling his name on the list of great discoverers. Here was 
an enterprise worthy of the most arduous exertions, and prom- 
ising the most splendid renown. After baptizing the friendly 
cacique and his household, he returned to Darien, and at once 
sent the intelligence to Diego Columbus, who was now viceroy 
at Hispaniola, entreating reinforcements, and fortifying his 
request with a large sum of gold for the royal coffers. 

While awaiting the result of this application, he set forth 
with an hundred and seventy men in quest of the great temple 
of Bobayba, whose walls were said to be resplendent with golden 
ornaments, the gifts of Indian kings. In struggling through 
the difficult and marshy forests of the isthmus, he came upon a 
race of people who lived in strange dwellings, probably of 
wicker-work, among the spreading branches of the woods. 

The story is quaintly told by a contemporary ^\Titer : " Vppon 
the banke of this riuer, next vnto the mouth of the same, there 
was a king called Abibeiba, who because the region was fulle 
of maryshes, hadde his pallace builded in the toppe of a hygh 




r.j.sco .vc.vKz /> F. h-.if.no.i, 

VII.U-IV,; lui; Tin, HKsr TIMK ,■„,. ,..„n',r ...■i.A.N. 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 153 

tree, a newe kinde of building and seldome scene." Tliese 
trees, the common habitations of the natives, are described as 
being of immense size and height, and the agihty of the serv- 
ants, at royal entertainments, in "running vp and down the 
staires adherente to the tree," is amusingly described. "Our 
men therefore came to the tree of King Abibeiba,- and by the 
interpretours called him foorth to communication, giuing him 
signes of peace, and thereujDon willing him to come downe. 
But hee denyed that hee would come out of his house, desiring 
them to suffer him to lyve after his fashione. * * When 
hee hadde denyed them agayne, they fell to hewing the tree 
with their axes. Abebeiba seeing the chippes fall from the 
tree on euery side, chaunged his purpose, and came downe with 
onely two of his sons." This unfortunate potentate, thus sum- 
marily ejected from his airy habitation, told them that "hee 
had no golde, and that hee neuer had any neede therof, nor yet 
regarded it any more then stones." He promised, however, 
to go to the neighboring mountains and bring them some, but 
"came neither at the day, nor after the day appointed. They 
departed therefore from thence, well refreshed with his vict- 
ualles and wine, but not with gold as they hoped." In the 
subsequent narrative there is a touching mention of "Abebeiba, 
the inhabitour of the tree, who had now likewise forsaken his 
countrey for feare of our men, and wandered in the desolate 
mountaines and woods." 

After this disappointment, the Spanish leader explored the 
country for some distance, and gained considerable spoil: but 
the golden temple evaded all his researches. 

The neighboring caciques, indignant at the outrages of the 
whites, soon formed a plan for their extermination: ari hundred 
canoes and five thousand warriors were prepared for a midniglit 
attack upon the settlement of Darien; but the treachery of 
one of their people defeated the enterprise. On learning their 
intention, Balboa marched secretly upon the hostile camp, and 
seized their leaders, whom he put to death. A fortress was 
then erected as a safeguard against future attack. The cner- 



154 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

getic governor met witli equal success in suppressing a most 
dangerous sedition among his own followers. 



CHAPTER II. 

EXPEDITION OF BALBOA IN SEARCH OF THE SEA CONTESTS WITH THE 

NATIVES DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN APPOINTMENT 

OF PEDRARIAS REAPPOINTMENT OF BALBOA 

MISFORTUNES OF THE COLONY. 

The authority of Balboa had been confirmed by a letter 
from the treasurer of Hispaniola, but he was privately informed 
that the influence of his enemies at the court of Spain was 
sufficient to crush him. Some grand exploit was necessary to 
retrieve his fortunes; and he resolved at once to set forth in 
quest of the great sea, whose golden shores were said to lie in 
the south-west. An hundred and ninety of the most daring 
and resolute of his followers were selected to share the enter- 
prise, and a number of bloodhounds were taken to overawe and 
discomfit the natives. On the first of September, 1513, after one 
of those solemn invocations to Heaven which usually preceded 
a Spanish expedition, whether for discovery or massacre, this 
little army set out to fight its way to the unknown ocean. 

By the 8th, Balboa arrived at the territories of Ponca, his 
late foe, whom he readily conciliated, and who assured him of 
the reality of the object of his search. Leaving this cacique on 
the 20th, he pressed forward through a region of such terrible 
difficulties that four days were expended in passing a distance 
of ten leagues. The Indians, whose territory he was invading, 
under their cacique Quaraqua, now attacked his army in gi-eat 
numbers. But the unaccustomed terror of the fire-arms and 
bloodhounds overcame their courage : they soon took to flight ; 
and the cacique, with six hundred of his people, was left dead 
upon the field. Much booty, in gold and jewels, was obtained 
from the Indian villages, and several prisoners, with execrable 



DISCOVERY OF THE TACIFIC OCEAN. 155 

cruelty, were given to be torn in pieces by blooclliounds. This 
piece of barbarism was indeed of common occurrence in the 
Spanish conquests. Sometimes the savage animals refused to 
touch the victims thus brutally offered to them — "Their very 
dogges," says an old author, with quaint indignation, "being 
less dogged than their doggish diuelish masters." 

Many of the Spaniards, disabled by wounds or illness, were 
unable to proceed ; and with only sixty-seven companions, the 
fierce and dauntless adventurer pushed forward up the moun- 
tain. On the 26th of September, 1513, as they were nearing 
its simimit, he bade his companions to halt, and ordered that 
no man should stir from his place. With a beating heart, he 
ascended alone; and, standing on the summit of that mighty 
chain which divides the oceans, beheld the vast Pacific glitter- 
ing in the south. In his joy at this sublime discovery, the 
grandest since the days of Columbus, he knelt down, and 
returned fervent thanks to God. His people crowded around 
him, and a solemn Te Deum went up to heaven. Formal pos- 
session, recorded by a notary, and witnessed by all, was taken 
of the new ocean, with all its shores and islands, in the name 
of Castile ; a cross was erected, and a number of stones were 
piled up to mark the memorable spot. 

Defeating the savages who opposed them, and receiving 
enormous tributes of gold, the Spaniards hastened to the shore 
of the still-distant sea. One Alonzo Martin reached it first, 
and leaping into a canoe, called all to witness that he was the 
first European who had floated on that sea. AVhen Balboa 
arrived, seizing a banner, he plunged into .the waves, and with 
a stately and swelling preamble took possession of the sea, 
offering to maintain in the name of his sovereigns against any 
other prince or people, "Christian or infidel," their "empire and 
dominion over these Indias, islands, and Terra firma, northern 
and southern, with all their seas, both at the Arctic and Antarc- 
tic poles, on either side of the equinoctial line, whether within 
or without the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now and 
in all times, as long as the world endures, and until the final 



156 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

judgment of all mankind." Amid all the avarice and cruelty 
whicli stained the Spanish discoverers, there occasionally 
gleamed forth something exceedingly fine and classical, making 
them eager for honorable renown, and at times almost forgetfid 
of their quenchless thirst for gold. 

Launching forth, Avith sixty of his men, in nine frail canoes, 
this daring commander attempted to explore the coast; but 
after experiencing great peril and suffering, was compelled to 
relinquish his project. The Indians, however, assured him 
that the shore stretched on without end, and that in the remote 
south, was abundance of gold. Their cacique also moulded 
in clay the figure of an animal (the lama), which he said was 
used in that region to carry burdens. It is probable that not 
only the imagination of Balboa, but that of Pizarro, who was 
with him, was fired with ambition by these tempting descrip- 
tions. Meanwhile, great quantities of gold and pearls were 
readily furnished by the natives, who pointed to a distant 
group of islands as being especially rich in the latter precious 
commodities. Balboa would have set forth at once to this land 
of promise, but was deterred by the alarming representations 
of his hosts. 

As the expedition, early in November, set out on its return, 
the caciques sent large numbers of their subjects to assist the 
Spaniards in carrying their precious burdens of gold and jewels. 
On their way, these ferocious marauders seized a certain cacique, 
and, being disappointed in their expectations of treasure, gave 
him, and three of his companions, to be devoured by the blood- 
hounds. The personal ugliness of the unhappy chief seems 
to have been thought some reason for excluding him from the 
pale of humanity, the Spanish commander averring that he 
"neuer sawe a more monstruous & defourmed creature, and 
that nature hath only giuen him humane shape, and otherwise 
to bee worse then a bruite beast, with manners according to 
the liniamentes of his bodie." The avarice of the Spaniards, 
however, resulted in great disaster to themselves, for refusing 
to permit their Indian guides to bring a sufficiency of provi- 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 157 

sions (lest they should be unable to carry gold enough) great 
suifering ensued from hunger, and many of their unfortunate 
servants perished on the way. In the terrible regions through 
which they passed, they found "nothing apt to bee eaten, but 
wylde rootes and certaine vnpleasant fruites of trees." Twice 
they were obliged to make long delays to recruit their strength ; 
but always contrived to wring fresh hoards of treasure from 
the trembling natives, and to overawe them by severity. Thus 
they gradually worked their way homeward, "laden with golde, 
but sore afflicted with hunger." It was not until the 18th of 
January, 1514, that Balboa arrived at Darien, having gained 
the most brilliant and enduring reputation as a discoverer, 
though stained by deeds of outrageous cruelty and oppression. 
A vast booty in pearls, gold, and captives, rewarded the rapa- 
city of his followers, and promised to conciliate the favor of 
the crown. 

But before the news of his success could arrive in Spain, his 
enemies were fully in the ascendant. The king, moved by 
their representations, appointed one Pedrarias Davila, a distin- 
guished cavalier, but ambitious, relentless, and treacherous, 
as governor of the rising colony of Darien. Further stimulated 
by the accounts of the supposed ocean which Balboa had sent 
to Spain, he resolved to fit out a powerful armament for dis- 
covery and conquest. Now was witnessed an almost exact 
repetition of the scenes which had occurred at the time of the 
second expedition of Columbus — destined, too, like those, to 
be the prelude to disappointment, misery and death. The 
youthful and noble cavaliers, excited, as then, by the prospect 
of fortune and conquest in an undiscovered world, flocked to 
join in the enterprise. Age and capital, it seems, were equally 
carried away by the excitement; for, we are told, there were 
"likeAvise no small number of couetous old men," who eagerly 
offered to pay their own charges, if they might join the expe- 
dition. The number had been limited to twelve hundred ; but 
by the royal permission, and by favor and nrtifico, the fleet, 
consisting of fifteen sail, eventually carried off' more than two 



158 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

thousand. It was, indeed, repeatedly the fate of European 
nations to witness scenes of excitement and enthusiasm, such 
as, in our own day, under better auspices, and with a happier 
result, have founded a new and splendid empire on the shores 
of California. 

A bishop, named Quevedo, was appointed over the new dio- 
cese, which, with the whole coast, now received the alluring 
title of Castilla d'Oro, or Golden Castile. A number of eccle- 
siastics were also provided for the spiritual good of the colony, 
while, to promote its temporal tranquillity, no lawyer was per- 
mitted to go there. On the 12th of April, 1514, the expedition 
set sail. 

Hardly had it lost sight of the shores of Spain, when a mes- 
senger from Balboa, announcing his brilliant discovery, arrived, 
with splendid specimens of the wealth of the Pacific. The 
ambitious monarch, highly elated at the news, dispatched a fresh 
missive, constituting that commander, lately in such disgrace, 
as Lieutenant of the South Sea, and governor of important 
provinces on the isthmus. 

Meanwhile, under his assiduous exertions, the colony had 
greatly prospered, and now contained a population of five hun- 
dred Europeans, with thrice that number of Indians. On the 
arrival of Pedrarias, however, he submitted with great readiness 
to the royal decree. The new commander, with ineffable mean- 
ness and duplicity, pretended to treat him with great distinction, 
and thus gained the most important and accurate information 
concerning' his late discoveries. This object accomplished, he 
at once commenced a judicial investigation of his conduct, 
hoping to send him to Spain for trial. The favor of the bishop 
and of the alcalde, whom Balboa had managed to conciliate, 
alone deferred his impending fate. 

Famine and malaria soon began to do their work upon the 
improvident multitude which had so gajdy left the shores of 
Spain, and seven hundred of the unfortunate companions of 
Pedrarias soon perished of disease or hunger. Others took ref- 
uge in the island of Cuba, then being conquered and settled 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 159 

by Velasquez; and others returned miserably to Spain. The 
governor, eager to use his ill-gotten information, dispatched 
a force of four hundred men, under Juan de Ayora, to lay 
open a line of communication to the Pacific. But that officer, 
by his outrageous conduct to the natives, converted them into 
deadly enemies, and the enterprise failed disastrously. An- 
other expedition, of two hundred men, under Balboa and Luis 
Carillo, dispatched in quest of the temple of Dobayba, ^vas 
attacked by great numbers of the hostile Indians, and retreated 
in wretched condition to Darien, with the loss of more than half 
their number. 



CHAPTER III. 

DISAPPOINTMENTS OF BALBOA EXPEDITIONS OF MORALES AND 

PIZARRO RECONCILIATION OF BALBOA AND PEDRARIAS 

CRUISE OF BALBOA ON THE PACIFIC HIS SUDDEN 

ACCUSATION, TRIAL, AND EXECUTION. 

On the arrival of the royal missive appointing Balboa to his 
new honors, the governor for some time meanly withheld it. 
With much difficulty the bishop and the alcalde prevailed 
upon him to obey its provisions — which, however, he did in 
mere form, compelling his rival to give security that he would 
not enter on the new government without his permission. 
His jealousy was stimulated to fury by the arrival of a vessel 
from Cuba, containing seventy resolute adventurers, who had 
flocked to the call of Balboa to accompany him on a private 
expedition to the golden shores of the Pacific. The infuriated 
governor, fearing a plot, was with difficulty induced to refrain 
from imprisoning his rival in a cage. The latter was peremp- 
torily forbidden to go on his intended expedition (1515). 

Pedrarias,, however, dispatched a party of his own, consisting 
of sixty men, under his relation Gaspar Morales. This fierce 
and cruel commander was accompanied by Pizarro, who had 



160 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

already been to tlie Pacilic witli Balboa, and whose unrelenting 
cruelty may perhaps be traced in the atrocities which disgraced 
the present enterprise. Traversing the mountains by an easier 
route, they arrived at the Southern Ocean, and were hospitably 
entertained by a cacique, named Tutibra. With only four 
canoes, the two leaders and a portion of their men embarked 
for the Pearl Islands, which lay a distant line on the hori- 
zon of the ocean. The warlike cacique of the chief island 
made a brave resistance, but with his people was unable to 
withstand the terrors of hounds and fire-arms. Accordingly, he 
made submission, and, in the words of an ancient author, "had 
them home vnto his house, and made much of them, and re- 
ceived baptisme at their hands, naming him Pedro Arias after 
the gouernours name, and he gaue vnto them for this a basket 
full of pearles waying 110 poundes, whereof some were as big 
as hasell nuts." He promised them abundance of these treasures, 
and from the summit of a tower pointed out the distant region 
of gold, the mighty realm of the Incas, yet destined to be sub- 
dued by one who stood beside him. 

The ill-conduct of the Spaniards left on the mainland had 
so exasperated the natives, that on the return of the adven- 
turers, they were attacked by an overwhelming force, and a 
niunber were slain. The hostile chieftains, however, were taken 
by stratagem, and thrown into chains; and their undisciplined 
followers, attacked by surprise at midnight, were massacred to 
the number of seven hundred. The caciques, eighteen in 
number, were given to be devoured alive by bloodhounds. 

The retreat of the Spaniards, in turn, was beset by crowds 
of assailants, and they were worn out by repeated attacks — 
Morales vainly killing his prisoners in hopes that the natural 
lamentations over the bodies of their friends would check the 
fierceness of the pursuit. One of the retreating invaders, una- 
ble to keep up with his companions, hanged himself on a tree 
rather than fall into the hands of the justly-exasperated natives. 
After a series of sufferings and disasters almost unexampled, 
the Spaniards, in a most miserable condition, arrived at Darien. 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 161 

There, the beauty of their trophies excited the most rapturous 
admiration; and a single pearl, which the governor's wife 
afterwards presented to the empress, was repaid by a gift of 
four thousand ducats. 

The administration of Pedrarias was now embarrassed by 
many perplexities and misfortunes. The expeditions which 
he dispatched were in general unsuccessfal ; and in particular 
a large party, consisting of an hundred and eighty men, well 
armed and provided with artillery, was set upon by the enraged 
Indians, and cut off to a man. The settlement was soon in a 
state of constant siege, and the trembling colonists were perpet- 
ually in fear of massacre. In this juncture, the good offices 
of the Bishop Quevedo brought about a reconciliation of the 
governor to his dreaded rival, Balboa. It was evident that 
nothing but the genius and audacity of the disgraced com- 
mander could restore the renown and prosperity of the colon3^ 
Accordingly, it was agreed that he should receive in marriage 
a daughter of Pedrarias (who was sent for from Spain), and that 
he should be supplied with the means for his long-cherished 
expedition to the great South Sea (1516). 

Two hundred men were placed at his command, and he was 
empowered to build four brigantines for transportation across 
the mountains. Two of these vessels were constructed on the 
Atlantic shore, and were then with incredible labor taken 
piecemeal on the shoulders of men through the tangled forests 
and precipitous passes which led to the Pacific. Many of the 
hapless natives perished in this terrible task, but it was re- 
marked that the Spaniards and negroes, of hardier constitution, 
supported their burdens with less fatal fatigue. The hardihood 
and endurance of these veterans of the isthmus, perhaps never 
surpassed, is forcibly described in a letter of Peter Martj'-r to 
the Pope, Leo X.: "The old soldiers of Dariena," he says, 
"were hardened to abide all sorrowes, & exceeding tollerable 
of labor, heate, hunger, and watching, insomuch that merily 
they make their boast, that they haue observed a longer & 
sharper Lent then euer your Holinesse enjojnied: for they say 
11 



162 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

that for tlie space of foure whole yeeres they eate none other 
than herbes and fruites, except now and then perhaps fysshe, 
and very seldome fleshe; yea, and that sometime for lacke 
of all these, they haue not abhorred from mangie dogges and 
filthy toades as we have sayde before." After an immensity of 
toil, suffering, and privation, two brigantines were floating on 
the river Balsas, which flows into the Pacific. In these little 
keels, the first of European construction which had ever floated 
on that vast ocean, Balboa, with his companions, launched forth 
triumphantly on the unknown waters. A more daring and 
arduous undertaking, considering the difficulty of the task and 
the perils which beset the way, was perhaps never accomplished 
by man. 

Cruising to the eastward along the southern shore of the 
isthmus, he passed beyond the great gulf of San Miguel, and 
pursued a course which, if continued, would have led him to 
the wealthy regions of Peru, and perhaps have transferred to 
his brow the renown and infamy of the memorable Conquest. 
But the wind headed him; and he returned to the main land, 
where he defeated and slew a great number of Indians, in 
revenge for the murder of some companions of Morales. 
Thence he proceeded to the Isles of Pearls, where he busied 
his men in the construction of two additional vessels. 

Rumors soon arrived that a new governor had been appointed 
to supersede Pedrarias, and one Garabito was dispatched to 
Darien to ascertain the truth. The treachery of this man, who 
was his secret enemy, proved the ruin of Balboa, at the very 
moment when his daring and ambitious schemes seemed all 
about to be realized. The falsehoods and misrepresentations 
of his envoy inflamed the jealous mind of Pedrarias to frenzy 
against his new ally, whom he supposed to be aspiring to a 
new realm of his own on the Pacific. Dissembling, however, 
he sent him a friendly message, requesting an interview. The 
unsuspecting commander hastened to meet him, and though 
informed on the way of his evil intentions, trusted by a truth- 
ful statement to remove his suspicions. He was soon met by 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 163 

Francisco Pizarro, with an armed force, and was taken in chains 
to Ada, a town near the base of the mountains. 

A judicial process for treason was instantly commenced 
against him, sustained by the treacherous evidence of Garabito, 
and the misunderstood report of an eavesdropper. His own 
indignant reply to the accusations of Pedrarias contains a 
strong argument for his innocence of the charge imputed to 
him. "If I had known myself guilty," he said, "what would 
have induced me to come here and put myself into your hands? 
If I had intended to rebel against the king, my master, what 
jirevented me from doing it? I had four ships ready for sea, 
three hundred men at my command, and an open sea before 
me. What had I to do but to set sail, and press forward? There 
was no doubt of finding a land, whether rich or poor, enough 
for me and mine, far beyond your control. Knowing my in- 
nocence, I came here promptly, at your mere request, and my 
reward is slander, indignity, and chains." The alcalde, how- 
ever, overawed by the governor, gave a reluctant judgment 
that he was guilty; and the sanguinary Pedrarias gave order 
for his immediate execution. As he was led to the fatal spot, 
the public crier walked before him, proclaiming his treason. 
He answered indignantly, "It is false! never did such a crime 
enter my mind. I have ever served my king with truth and 
loyalty, and sought to augment his dominions." Having con- 
fessed himself and partaken of the sacrament, he mounted the 
scaffold with a firm and manly demeanor, and laid his head 
upon the block. It was severed from the body at a single 
stroke, amid the lamentations of the people. Four of his asso- 
ciates shared his fate, and the malignant governor, through the 
reed wall of an adjoining house, feasted his eyes on the destruc- 
tion of his supposed enemies (1517). 

Thus perished in the prime of life Vasco Nunez de Balboa, 
the first beholder of the Pacific, the gi-eat pioneer of inland 
discovery, at a moment when his fondest wishes seemed on the 
point of being crowned with success, and a fresh and brilliant 
career of conquest and exploration lay before him. His genius 



164 • NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

and courage had endeared liim to the Spaniards, who were 
eager to follow him on any enterprise, however toilsome or 
perilous; and though guilty of some outrageous cruelties to 
the Indians, he treated them in general, it is said, with much 
kindness and justice, and secured their friendship and attach- 
ment to a greater degree than any other of the Spanish adven- 
turers. That all his glory should end in disaster and misfortune 
was a fate which, from the ingratitude of the court or the 
machinations of their enemies, he shared in common with nearly 
all the great names of Spanish discovery and conquest. 



THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO, 

BY HERNANDO CORTES. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CONQUEST OF CUBA DISCOVERY OF YUCATAN DISCOVERY OF MEX- 
ICO HERNANDO CORTES HIS EXPEDITION BATTLES WITH THE 

TABASCANS, ETC. ARRIVAL AT SAN JUAN DE ULUA. 

The brilliancy and rapid succession of Spanish discoveries 
and conquests, within a few years from the voyage of Colum- 
bus, seem astonishing, even in the present age of universal 
enterprise. Wherever the foot of the Spaniard was planted, 
the land from that moment seemed subject to his sway, and all 
its inhabitants the destined ministers to his avarice and pride. 
Nor was this fatal certainty of triumph confined to those feeble 
and unwarlike races, such as ever have withered away before 
the advancing footsteps of the white men. Before the fierce 
courage and invincible endurance of Spanish adventure, the 
most ancient and powerful empires of America, empires strong 
in a fixed government, and adorned by the graces of civiliza- 
tion, doomed to a destruction as certain as sudden, were destined 
to vanish from the earth, in the midst of that pride and security 
from which they had hardly the time to awaken. 

It has been mentioned that Columbus, to the day of his 
death, supposed Cuba to be a portion of the Asiatic continent. 
Subsequent navigation proved it to be an island, and in 1511 
his son Diego, then governor of Hispaniola, dispatched a small 
expedition, under Diego Velasquez, to reduce it to subjection. 
The timorous and unwarlike natives opposed little resistance, 
and, thanks to the good offices of Las Casas, the vcncraljle 



166 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

advocate of the Indian race, tlie conquest was disgraced by 
comparatively few atrocities. One cliief, named Hatuey, who 
had made resistance, was burned alive by the cruel Velasquez. 
On being urged, at the stake, to embrace Christianity and save 
his soul, he inquired if the white men would also go to heaven. 
On being told that they would, he made the memorable answer, 
" I will not be a Christian then : for I would not go again to a 
place where I must find men so cruel." 

In February, 1517, one Hernandez de Cordova, sailing from 
Cuba to the Bahamas in quest of slaves, was driven westward 
by a succession of gales, and finally found himself on the coast 
of Yucatan (Cape Catoche). Here he was amazed at the evi- 
dences of wealth and civilization — at the massive construction 
of the buildings, and the native fabrics of cotton and ornaments 
of gold. Every where the Spaniards were encountered with 
fierce hostility, and finally, after enduring great suffering, 
returned to Cuba with less than half their number. 

Stimulated by their reports, Velasquez, the governor of that 
island, in the following year (May 1, 1518) dispatched his 
nephew Juan de Grijalva, in command of four vessels, to effect 
fresh discoveries. This squadron, after touching at the island 
of Cozumel, coasted along the Peninsula, the crews experi- 
encing, wherever they landed, the same fierce and determined 
resistance. During one contest, they met with annoyance from 
a singular and ludicrous circumstance. On the field, says one 
of them, "there was a prodigious swarm of locusts. These 
animals, during the action, sprang up and struck us in the 
faces, so that we hardly knew when to put up our shields to 
guard us, or whether they were arrows or locusts which 
flew around us, they came so thick together." Coasting west- 
ward, the fleet finally arrived at the shores of Mexico. A 
friendly intercourse was opened with the people, and great store 
of jewels and gold was obtained in return for trifles. After 
an. absence of six months, during which he had explored much 
of the Mexican coast, Grijalva returned to Cuba with the renown 
of his discovery. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 167 

The governor, excited by the dispatches which that com- 
mander had sent him, was already engaged in the preparation 
of a larger and more important expedition, the command of 
which he meant to intrust to Hernando Cortes, This man, so 
renowned and infamous, was born at Medellin in Estramadura, 
on the 10th of November, 1485 — "the same day,"* says a pious 
Spanish author, "that that infernal beast, the false heretic Lu- 
ther, entered the world — by way of compensation, no doubt, 
since the labors of the one to pull down the true faith were 
counterbalanced by those of the other to maintain and extend 
it." At the age of fourteen, he was sent to the University of 
Salamanca, where, however, he profited little, passing two years 
in idleness and dissipation. He returned home, and was on 
the point of sailing with Ovando for Hispaniola, but was pre- 
vented by a serious accident, incurred in the prosecution of an 
amour. In 1504, at the age of nineteen, he set out to seek his 
fortune, and sailed for that island in the vessel of one Alonzo 
Quintero. After a great tempest, the mariners were cheered 
by seeing a white dove alight on the mast. It has been sug- 
gested by some devout Spanish historians that this bird was 
• no other than the Holy Ghost, which thus appeared to take the 
adventurer under his especial protection. 

On arriving at Hispaniola, Cortes met a kind reception from 
the governor, and was promised a tract of land. "I came to 
get gold," he replied, "not to till the soil like a peasant." 
Nevertheless he accepted the grant, with its accustomed repar- 
tiamento of unhappy natives. Under Velasquez, who was 
then Ovando's lieutenant, he was often employed in suppressing 
the Indian insurrections, and learned those lessons of daring 
and cruelty, in which, on a more extended stage, he was yet 
to prove himself a master. 

He accompanied Velasquez in his conquest of Cuba, and, 
after the subjugation of that island, in 1512, acquired by mining 
and plantation a considerable sum of money. "God," says the 
worthy Las Casas, "who alone knows at what cost of Indian 

* Of the month, perhaps; for Luther was born in 1483. 



168 XOKTII AND SOLTll AMEIUCA. 

lives it ■was obtained, will take aoeount of it." During this 
time he married, and was alternately under the favor and dis- 
pleasure of the governor, Avho, at one time, it is said, was even 
on the point of eonunanding him to be hanged. A reeoneilia- 
tion was, however, elfeeted, and Cortes embarked all his means 
in the projected enterprise. 

The treasures gained by Grijalva, and his report of the wealth 
of the country, inllamed a host of rapacious adventurers with 
the thirst for fresh renown and for richer plunder. " Nothing," 
says one of them, ''was to be seen or spoken of but selling 
Lmds to purchase arms and horees, quilting coats of mail, 
making bread, and salting pork, for sea stores." Three hundred 
volunteers w^ere speedily assembled in the town of St. Jago. 
The ambition of Cortes, exalted by the opportunity, induced 
him to use every exertion tt) forward the expedition ; and the 
levit}'' and recklessness which he had heretofore displayed, gave 
way to a grave and asjiiring determination. 

The instructions of X'elasipiez were certainly of a liberal and 
tolerably unexceptionable character. Tralhc with the nati^•cs, 
and their conversion, were the principal objects to be attained. 
Cortes, indeed, was to invite them to give in their allegiance 
to his master, the king of Spain, ''and to manifest it by regaling 
Iiim with such comfortable presents of gold, jiearls, and pre- 
cious stones, as, by showing their own good-will, would secure 
his favor and protection." The self-complacent anticipations 
of the governor were soon grievously disturbcil. "One Sun- 
day," says old Diaz,* "going as usual to mass, attended by the 
most respectable persons of the town and neighborhood, he 

* Bonial Diaz del Castillo, the most amusing aiul roliablo of all tlu- Spanish 
uiitors oil Moxii'o, was a soldior of «iistin<,fuislu'd valor, who served tiiroiigli- 
out the Wars of the Conquest. lie was entraged in an hundred and nineteen 
battles, and was constantly lighting by the side of Cortes, or employed in his 
servieo. Being a shrewd and humorous observer, he has left the most lively 
picture of the manners of the age and nation. In liis old age, half a century 
utter the Fall of Mexico, being then Rogidor of Guatemala, he sat down to 
write his story, in which the blnntness of the camp is most agreeably tem- 
pered witli natural good feeling and the pleasant g;;rrulitv of age. 




HEKJV.IjYDO CUUTKy., 
FROM AN ORIGINAL PORTRAIT BY TITIAN. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 169 

placed Hernando Cortes, by way of distinction, on liis right 
hand; upon which occasion one Cervantes, called "the mad," a 
kind of buftbon, ran before them, repeating his absurdities, 
such as "Huzza for my master Diego! what a captain has he 
chosen! and how soon will he lose his fleet!" with much of 
that kind, but all having a malicious tendency. Andres de 
Duero, who was present, cuffed him, and bid him be silent, 
but the rogue persevered, adding, that he would quit his old 
master, and follow the fortunes of Cortes." The raillery of this 
Thersites, however, sank deep into the jealous heart of Velas- 
quez, and his suspicion was inflamed to such an extent, that he 
resolved to deprive Cortes of his command. The latter, learn- 
ing his intentions, hastened his departure, and at midnight got 
his little squadron under way— the enraged and disappointed 
governor arriving on the shore only in time to see the fleet 
fairly under sail. He touched at several other ports of Cuba, 
continually increasing his stores and augmenting his forces, 
while the orders for his apprehension, dispatched by Velasquez 
to the local governors, were impossible of execution — ("by 
reason," says de Soils, "of the Disgust which it gave the Sol- 
diers.") On the 10th of February, 1519, he sailed from Ha- 
vana toward Cape San Antonio, where the remainder of his 
fleet were to meet him. There his expedition was found to 
consist of eleven vessels, manned by six hundred and sixty- 
three men. He had ten cannon, with other artillery, and, 
most important of all, sixteen horses, procured, at that time, 
at great trouble and expense. Old Bernal Diaz, the 
chronicler and partaker of the expedition, describes the points 
and qualities of each animal with an amusing particularity. 
All being ready, the commander made an address to his 
followers, with strong natural eloquence, appealing most 
effectively to their avarice, their ambition, and their super- 
stitious zeal. He then, on the 18th of February, 1519, set 
sail for Yucatan. 

At this time Cortes was about thirty-three years old, and 
was of a slender, but vigorous and athletic person. He excelled 



170 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

in all martial exercises, and by bis air of command, mingled 
witb gayetj and good-bumor, bad acquired tbe strongest bold 
on tbe obedience and attacbment of bis followers. " All of us," 
says one of tbem, "would witb pleasure bave laid down our 
lives for bim." He bad a fondness for state and display, " wear- 
ing a plume of featbers and a gold medal in bis cap, wbicb 
ornaments became bim very well." 

After encountering a fierce tempest, by wbicb tbeir vessels 
were dispersed, tbe Spaniards, one after anotber, arrived at tbe 
island of Cozumel. (Tbis island bad its name from a notable 
idol wbo was lodged tbere, a name wbicb it still bears— very 
improperly, argues a Spanisb bistorian, and to tbe great dis- 
credit of Geograpby, seeing tbat tbe Arcb Fiend bad tbe cbris- 
tening of it.) Tbey entered tbe temples, some of wbicb, several 
stories in beigbt, were solidly built of stone and lime; and 
were surprised, amid tbe idolatrous efligies, at tbe siglit of a 
cross, tbe native emblem of tbe God of Rain. After some 
besitation, tbe Indians ventured among tbeir invaders, and a 
friendly intercbange of goods took place. Tbey were bar- 
angned, at first witb little effect, by two reverend fatbers, on 
tbe merits of Cbristianity ; but Cortes, witbout ceremon}', tum- 
bled tbeir most venerated idols down tbe stairs of tbe great 
temple, and placed in tbeir stead an altar, witb an image of tbe 
Holy Virgin. 

On tbe -itli of Marcb, tbe adventurer, witb bis fleet, set sail 
from tbe island, baving taken a friendly leave of tbe natives, 
wbo readily "promised to take care of tbe boly altar and cru- 
cifix." Having reacbed tbe Rio de Tabasco, near tbe southern 
extremity of tbe Gulf, be left bis vessels, and, witb a part of 
bis forces, ascended tbe river in boats. On tbe morning of tbe 
second day, a vast array of Indians was seen, draAvn up on tbe 
bank to oppose tbe intruders. Tbe wbole air resounded witb 
tbeir barbarous music. Cortes determined to make bis way to 
tbeir town of Tabasco, but first ordered a royal notary to make 
solemn proclamation tbat tbe expedition was on "tbe service 
of God and tbe king," and tbat they would be responsible for 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 171 

the consequences of opposing his passage. "All which," says 
Diaz, "being duly explained to them, produced no effect; they 
seemed as determined to oppose us as they were before." 

A fierce contest ensued in the water, the Tabascans in their 
canoes opposing a brave resistance to the advancing boats of 
the Spaniards. They were, however, driven to land, but still 
fought bravely, retreating from barricade to barricade, "front- 
ing us valiantly, whistling, and shouting, 'Al calachioni,' or, 
'kill the captain.'" They were, however, unable to withstand 
the unwonted terror of fire-arms; and being taken in the rear 
by a detachment of a hundred Spaniards, relinquished the town 
to their enemies. The latter took possession, but found little 
gold, the effects of the natives having been pfeviously removed 
— "a circumstance which gave us small satisfaction." Formal 
possession of the country was taken in the name of the crown, 
and Cortes, "drawing his sword, gave three cuts with it in a 
great Ceiba-tree; and said that against any one who denied 
his majesty's claim, he was ready to defend and maintain it. 
with the sword and shield which he then held. This step was 
generally approved of, and it was formally witnessed by a royal 
notary." 

But the whole country was now in arms, and a force of many 
thousand Indians was assembled on the neighboring plain of 
Ceutla. With his usual audacity, Cortes determined to strike 
the first blow, and accordingly landed his horses and a part 
of his artillery. On the 25th of March, the main body of the 
army set forth over a long causeway which led to the Indian 
camp, while the general, with his slender band of cavalry, 
drew a circuit to attack the enemy in the rear. This little force 
consisted of the most gallant cavaliers of his army, — among 
them Alvarado, Olid, De Leon, and other names destined to 
renown in the Conquest. The infantry arrived first, and for 
more than an hour sustained a fierce contest with the over- 
whelming number of their opponents. The latter, despite the 
inferiority of their weapons, fought well, and as often as the 
cannon were fired, redoubled their shouting, whistling, and 



172 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

martial music,* crying, "ala! lala," and tlifowing dust and 
straw into the air to conceal the havoc made among their 
crowded ranks. 

When the Spaniards, almost exhausted, were anxiously look- 
ing for the assistance of their leader, a confused and disordered 
movement was observed in the rear of the Indian army. Cor- 
tes and his horsemen had arrived, and taking the enemy by 
surprise, charged furiously among them. The natives, who 
had never before beheld a horse, were terrified at the monstrous 
apparition, and a general panic ensued. Ordaz, who com- 
manded the main body, redoubled his attack, and the disor- 
derly multitude was soon put to flight. Pursuit was considered 
imprudent and uftnecessary. 

It became the fashion among Spanish chroniclers to ascribe 
this victory to the personal exertions of the "blessed St. Jago," 
who was said to have appeared, mounted on a gray steed, in 
the thickest of the fight. Others have ascribed it to St. Peter,, 
but old Diaz, who was present, dryly remarks, "it might be 
the case, and I, sinner as I am, was not worthy to be permitted 
to see it. What I did see was, Francisco de Morla riding in 
company with Cortes and the rest, upon a chesnut horse, and 
that circumstance, and all the others of that day, appear to me, 
at this moment that I am writing, as if actually passing in the 
view of these sinful eyes. But although I, unworthy sinner 
that I am, was unfit to behold either of those holy apostles, 
upwards of four hundred of us were present; let their testimony 
be taken." 

Cortez dismissed his prisoners to carry to their countrymen 
the stern announcement that, unless they submitted, "he would 
ride over the land, and put every living thing in it, man, 
woman, and child, to the sword." The principal- caciques of the 
defeated nation soon presented themselves before him, with 

* Tlioir iiistruiiK'nts of militury music were of a rude but effective con- 
struction — "Flutes made of great Canes; Sea-shells; and a sort of Dninis, 
made of tlie Trunk of a Tree, so hollowed, and made thin, that they answered 
to the Stroke of the Stick a very dhj leasing Sound." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 173 

submission and propitiatory offerings. Peaceable intercourse 
was soon establislied, and a grand religious ceremony, with all 
the pomp of Catholicism, was performed with a view to effect 
their conversion. They gazed with insatiable wonder on the 
strange persons and accoutrements, and -the mysterious rites 
of their visitors. The cavalry, as usual, excited their especial 
terror and curiosity. "When they heard the Horses ney," 
says an old writer, " they had thought the horses could speake, 
and demanded what they said; the Spaniards answered, these 
Horses are sore offended with you, for fighting with them, and 
would haue you corrected: the simple Indians presented Eoses 
and Hennes to the beasts, desiring them to eat and pardon 
them." Being asked where they obtained their gold, the natives 
answered, "Culchua," and "Mexico," pointing to the west. 

Again embarking, the adventurers sailed westward, and soon 
arrived at the island of San Juan de Ulua, opposite the present 
site of Vera Cruz. The natives, already conciliated by the 
visit of Grijalva, came off in numbers to the vessels. Cortes 
was for a time at a loss how to communicate with them; till 
accident supplied an interpreter. Among the gifts of the 
Tabascan caciques were tAventy females ("which part of the 
present," says Diaz, with amusing simplicity, "we held in most 
special estimation,") one of whom, named by the Spaniards 
Marina, was of Mexican birth. Her father had been a power- 
ful cacique, but she had been sold into slavery among the Ta- 
bascans, whose language she had acquired. With the dialect of 
that people, a companion of Cortes, who had been long prisoner 
with the Indians, was familiar, and thus a correct, though cir- 
cuitous communication was established with the Mexicans. 
The knowledge of Castilian, which Marina speedily acquired, 
indeed, soon obviated the necessity of a double interpretation. 
This woman, destined to play such a conspicuous part in the 
conquest of her country, was at this time young and beautiful, 
and is said to have possessed great intelligence and many ami- 
able qualities. She became the mistress of Cortes, to whom 
afterwards she bore a son. 



174 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE LANDING AT VERA CRUZ NEGOTIATION WITH MONTEZTTMA 

MAGNIFICENT PRESENTS ALLIANCE WITH THE TOTONACS 

DESTRUCTION OF THEIR IDOLS. 

On the 21st of April, 1519, Cortes, with all his troops, landed 
on the golden soil of Mexico, on the very spot where the town 
of Vera Cruz now stands. Teuhtile, the chief cacique of the 
neighborhood, soon came in state to , visit him, and ceremoni- 
ous courtesies were interchanged. To the inquiries of this dig- 
nitary, the Spanish commander replied that he had been sent 
by his master, the powerful king of Spain, with a present to 
the sovereign of Mexico, and a message which he must deliver 
in person. The politic cacique expressed surprise at learning 
that there was another prince as powerful as his master, the 
great Montezuma; but assured Cortes that he would dispatch 
the present and ascertain the will of the emperor. The rich 
and beautifully wrought articles of gold and of other valuable 
materials, which he presented to the Spanish chief, quite put 
to shame the paltry offerings which were all that Cortes could 
find as a gift for the Aztec sovereign. The cacique also dis- 
patched, for the inspection of his master, one of the Spanish 
helmets, and Cortes suggested the propriety of filling it with 
gold dust when returned, adding, "that the Spaniards were 
troubled with a disease of the heart, for which gold was a spe- 
cific remedy." Accurate pictures of the horses, the cannon, 
the ships and their strange inhabitants, were likewise made by 
the native artists for transmission to the court. 

At this time the throne of the Aztec* empire was filled by 
the famous Montezuma, who, in 1502, on the decease of his 
uncle, came by election to the sovereignty. He had been dis- 

* The Aztecs, originally a small tribe settled in the Mexican Valley, by 
continued encroachments and conquests, became the principal power in tiie 
whole region lying between the Pacific and the Gulf; numerous nations, of 
different languages and origin, being their vassals or tributaries. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 175 

tinguislied both in war and in the services of the national wor- 
ship — a worship which, with its hideous deities, and its innu- 
merable human sacrifices, was thoroughly interwoven with 
the entire system of Aztec government and polity. Of this 
fierce and sanguinary religion he was supposed to be an enthu- 
siastic devotee; and from the stern and melancholy expression 
of his countenance, his name, signifying the "sad" or "severe 
man," was derived. 

On his accession, he speedily became involved in war with 
his neighbors, and by his military genius extended his conquests 
widely over the surrounding regions of Anahuac* In the 
execution of justice, and in the enlargement and improvement 
of public works and edifices, he also displayed great ability 
and munificence. His ostentatious state, however, and the 
splendor of his court, required great wealth to maintain them, 
and his exactions, as well from his own people as from the 
conquered provinces, caused great disaffection and ill-will. 
Frequent insurrections occurred, to suppress which all his 
available forces were continually required. Moreover, he had 
for his mortal enemies Ixtlilxochitl, half-sovereign of the neigh- 
boring kingdom of Tezcuco, and the chiefs of the fierce and 
warlike republic of Tlascala. The condition of the Aztec 
empire, both from the extent of its conquests, and the hetero- 
geneous materials of which it was composed, had, for several 
years, been critical in the extreme. 

For some time before the arrival of the Spaniards, the mind 
of Montezuma, suspicious and anxious, had been excited by 
ancient prophecies and recent portents. Quetzalcoatl, the an- 
cient deity of the Aztecs, with fair complexion and flowing 
beard, it had been foretold, should one day return to resume 
his empire — and the coming of the white men was by many 
considered as a fulfilment of this prediction. Strange comets 
and other prodigies of nature added to his dismay. 

Ever since the visit of Grijalva, he had been waiting, in 

* The native title of the extensive tract of country since known as New 
Spain or Mexico. 



176 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

anxious expectation, for fresh arrivals of the mysterious stran- 
gers; and by his orders, on their landing, rich gifts had been 
bestowed on them, and the most hospitable and assiduous 
attention paid them by a multitude of his subjects. On the 
receipt of the message of Cortes and the descriptions given by 
his subjects, he held a solemn council, and, despite the remon- 
strances of his sager advisers, determined to send them a mag- 
nificent present, and, at the same time, to forbid their approach 
to his capital "This," says Mr. Prescott, "was to reveal, at 
once, both his wealth and his weakness." 

From the city of Mexico to Yera Cruz the distance is sev- 
enty leagues ; yet within eight days from the time the message 
had been dispatched by Teuhtile, an embassy from the emperor 
arrived at the camp of the S23aniards. It was accompanied by 
a hundred slaves, who bore presents of the most precious ma- 
terial and the most admirable workmanship. "The first was 
a plate of gold of the size of the wheel of a carriage, represent- 
ing the sun, admirably wrought, and said to be w^orth upwards 
of twenty thousand crowns of gold ($230,000); a larger one, 
equally wrought, of silver, representing the moon ; the helmet 
already mentioned, filled with gold in its native state; thirty 
pieces of wrought gold, representing ducks, very well executed, 
others in the forms of deer, dogs, lions, tygers and apes."* 
Besides these, there was a vast quantity of the most delicate 
fabrics in cotton and variegated feathers, intermingled with 
pearls and precious stones. 

With these treasures was delivered a courteous message from 
the emperor, expressing high respect^or the Spanish sovereign, 
but regretting that the difficulty of the way would prevent the 
visitors from coming to his capital, and suggesting delicately 
the propriety of their return. The avarice and ambition of the 
Spaniards were, of course, only inflamed afresh by these tokens 
of the wealth and timidity of the emperor; and Cortes, on the 
return of the ambassadors, sent another urgent request, backed 
by an insignificant present, for permission to visit the capital. 
* Bcrnal Diaz. 




MOXr EZ UM.I. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 177 

The answer came in a few days, accompanied by a frcsli and 
splendid present of gold. The denial was positively reiterated ; 
bnt Cortes, turning to his officers, said coldly, "Truly this is a 
great monarch, and a rich — by God's permission we must see 
him." Still solicitous for the propagation of the faith, he 
"hinted the propriety of a sermon" to the infidel caciques. 
"Fray Bartholeme accordingly preached, like an excellent the- 
ologian, which he was, explaining the mysteries of the cross, 
at the sight of which the evil beings they worshipped as gods, 
fled away. These subjects and much more he dilated on, and 
it was perfectly explained to and understood hy the Mexicans!" 

The Spanish camp, however, the next morning, was found 
entirely deserted by the multitude of natives who had hereto- 
fore ministered so sedulously to the wants of their guests. 
Thirty of their number had already perished from disease, and 
Cortes sent out an expedition to seek a more favorable locality. 
While alarm and despondency pervaded his ranks, he was 
cheered by an embassy from the Totonacs, a powerful people 
who had been lately subjected to the sway of the Aztec empe- 
ror. Impatient of the yoke, they invited the Spanish general 
to visit their city, Cempoalla ; and the mind of the adventurer 
was elated with the prospect of native assistance in his ambi- 
tious schemes. 

^lean while, he used every exertion of intrigue and persuasion 
to procure a declaration from the army, which should make 
him independent of "Velasquez ; and accordingly, by the artfiil 
solicitations of his friends, the soldiers were induced to throng 
around his tent, and demand the foundation of a colony. After 
a pretence of reluctance, he acquiesced, and forthwith appointed 
from his personal friends all the officers and magistrates of the 
new settlement of Vera Cruz. To this body he formally re- 
signed the authority which he had received from Velasquez, 
and was immediately elected captain-general of the colony in 
the name of the sovereigns. The partisans of the Cuban gov- 
ernor were fierce in their invectives; but a short confinement 
in irons convinced them of the folly of resistance, and, singular 
12 



178 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

to state, they became thenceforward staunch and faithful sup- 
porters of his usurped authority. 

Sending his vessels along the coast to Chiahuitzla, a more 
favorable station, he took up his march for Cempoalla. The 
road lay through a beautiful country, glowing with tropical 
vegetation, and as the soldiers approached the city, the friendly 
inhabitants, laden with flowers, came forth to meet them. This 
place contained about thirty thousand inhabitants, and his 
friendly reception, with the complaints of Aztec tyranny, made 
by the cacique, encouraged Cortes with fresh hopes. To this 
chieftain, (who was exceedingly corpulent, and who passes in 
the old histories under the title of "the fat cacique,") Cortes 
explained his power and that of his sovereign, and their zeal 
for the salvation of souls. "He then said many things to him 
concerning our holy faith. As soon as the fat cacique" had 
heard them out, giving a deep sigh, he complained bitterly of 
Montezuma and his of&cers, saying that having lately been 
compelled to submit to the yoke of that monarch, he had seized 
all his gold, and now held him completely enthralled." 

The Spanish commander assured him of redress, and, on the 
following day, moved on to Chiahuitzla, a few leagues further. 
"While there, attended by the cacique and other persons of dis- 
tinction, the news came that five messengers had arrived from 
Montezuma. At this intelligence, the color fled from the 
cheeks of the Totonacs, and they went trembhng to receive 
them, leaving Cortes quite alone. Every deference was shown 
to the imperial emissaries. " As they went to their apartments," 
says Diaz, "they passed by us with great state, not deigning 
to cast a look upon Cortes. They were dressed in mantles ele- 
gantly wrought, and drawers of the same; their hair shining, 
and as it were tied to the top of the head, and each of them had 
in his hand a hunch of roses^ which he occasionally smelt to.'''' 
The haughty and foppish demeanor of these officials (who, 
doubtless, were all the while dying with curiosity) and the ter- 
ror inspired by their coming, sufficiently evince the awe with 
which all Anahuac regarded its stern master, the Aztec emperor. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 179 

They had now come to demand twenty young men and 
women, as sacrifices for their gods, in expiation of the offence 
of the Totonacs in receiving the intruders. The latter, over- 
come with terror, would have complied at once, but for the 
indignant commands of Cortes, who compelled them forthwith 
to put the presumptuous emissaries into the stocks. With 
characteristic artfulness, however, he saved the astonished pris- 
oners from death, and secretly dismissed them, with a concilia- 
tory message to the emperor, taking to himself great credit 
for their rescue. His next step was to induce the Totonac 
chieftains openly to renounce their vassalage to Montezuma. 
Already deeply committed by their treatment of the Aztec 
messengers, they readily complied, and took an oath of alle- 
giance to the Spanish sovereigns, duly recorded, as usual, by a 
notary. A small city, near the new port, called Villa Eica de 
la Vera Cruz (The Rich Town of the True Cross) was built, 
with the assistance of the natives, in a surprisingly short space 
of time. 

The rage of Montezuma, on learning of the treatment of his 
officers, was extreme, and he commenced active preparations 
for avenging the insult ; but when he received the conciliatory 
message of Cortes, his former vacillation returned, and he sent 
a fre^ embassy of his relatives and nobles, with another mag- 
nificent present, to the dreaded strangers. Cortes received 
them courteously, and after having studiously displayed the 
terrific novelties of his armament, dismissed them with a mes- 
sage that he would soon wait on the emperor in person, to 
adjust all misunderstandings. 

His zeal for the propagation of the faith ere long involved 
him in a hazardous, but successful contest with his Cempoallan 
allies. The cacique had presented him with his own niece 
and seven other young ladies, daughters of chiefs, as wives for 
himself and his captains. Cortes received them with much 
courtesy, but said that it was necessary that they should first 
be baptized, and withal suggested the propriety of throwing 
down the idols from the great temple, and substituting the 



180 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

emblems of tlie lioly faitli. Vehement objections were made, 
but the Spaniards, shocked and scandalized by the daily rej)e- 
tition of human sacrifices, would take no denial; and Cortes, 
suddenly inflamed with religious passion, declared that the 
images should be destroyed that very hour, "if it cost him his 
life." Forthwith, says Diaz, "fifty of us, going up for the pur- 
pose, threw down and broke to pieces the enormous idols which 
we found within the temple, some in the form of dragons, 
others of half human shape, and others like dogs." The ca- 
ciques, who would have resisted, were at once arrested, and 
these "images of Satan," were consigned, to the flames, amid 
the groans and lamentations of their worshippers. The Spanish 
commander, however, in a lengthy harangue, assured them 
that he "woidd place them under the protection of the gi-eat 
Lady whom we adore, the mother of Christ ; with many other 
good and holy reasons and arguments, which could not be bet- 
ter expressed by any one, and all which the people listened to 
with much attention." 

An altar, with an image of the Virgin, was substituted in 
place of the frightful effigies of the Totonac deities ; four of the 
priests, hideous with black hoods, and covered with clotted 
blood, were compelled to assume a more canonical attire; and 
mass was forthwith said, for the edification of the natives. 
"The principal persons of this and the neighboring districts 
attended at divine service, and the eight ladies were baptized 
and instructed in our holy faith. The niece of the fat cacique 
was named Dona Catalina ; she was as ugly as possible, but the 
general received her by the hand affectionately."* Policy for 
the time had evidently got the better of taste and his accus- 
tomed caprice of intrigue. 

* B. Diaz. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 181 



CHAPTER III. 

THE MARCH TO MEXICO COMMENCED WAR WITH THE TLASCALANS VIC- 
TORIES OF THE SPANIARDS SPIRITED RESOLUTION OF CORTES. 

Despite his successes, Cortes was well aware that the influ- 
ence of Velasquez was sufficient to crush him, unless he could 
conciliate the favor of the crown. With this view, therefore, 
he relinquished his splendid share of the treasures already 
acquired, as a present to the sovereign (Charles V.), and per- 
suaded his followers to do the same. Nothing can better ex- 
hibit the unbounded authority which he had acquired over 
their minds, than that this crew of rapacious adventurers, 
at his mere suggestion, should, to a man, have abandoned the 
tempting spoils already in their grasp. All was yielded up 
as an offering to the emperor; and the general, in a long and 
persuasive letter, recapitulated his services and his plans, and, 
backed by the petitions of the whole army, besought a con- 
firmation of his command. Nothing was omitted which could 
conciliate the favor of the sovereign ; and Cortes, with almost 
incredible audacity, after describing the reputed power and 
splendor of the Aztec monarch, assured his master that ere 
long he should be enrolled among his Majesty's subjects, or 
else, dead or alive, a prisoner at his disposal. These treasures 
and letters were dispatched in a vessel to Spain (July 26th), 
with strict orders not to touch at Cuba. By an infringement 
of this command, however, Velasquez became informed of the 
whole matter. His rage was indescribable; but the vessel was 
already far on her way to Spain ; and after cursing and reviling 
all about him, he set to work to prepare a fresh expedition. 
The effects of his wrath and vexation are amusingly given by 
the old chronicler in the pithy remark, "so that, from being 
very fat, he grew quite lean. By the fury and determination 
he exhibited, he induced most of the settlers of Cuba to take 
part in the expedition, and prepared a fleet of eighteen sail," &c. 

Meanwhile, a scheme, set on foot by the priest Juan Diaz, 



182 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

for seizing a vessel, and departing for Cuba, was detected by 
Cortes, and was punished with merciless severity. All con- 
cerned in it were condemned, "except the priest, whose orders 
protected him, but he got a great fright." Two were hanged 
the feet of another were cut off, and the rest received two hun 
dred lashes apiece. 

To guard against any similar attempt, and to convince his 
men that there was no safety but in victory, Cortes now took 
the extraordinary measure of destroying his fleet. All, except 
one small vessel, were sunk, and the mariners were enrolled in 
his army. The soldiers, on learning that their only chance of 
retreat was thus cut off, were filled with alarm and indignation ; 
but their leader, in a speech full of fire and enthusiasm, revived 
their flagging spirits; and when he concluded, they clamored 
fiercely to be led to Mexico. 

Active preparation was now made for a march. A small 
garrison was left in Cempoalla, under command of Juan de 
Escalente, a sure friend of the general. The natives were di- 
rected to yield him implicit obedience, which they promised ; 
"and the caciques hereupon began, much against his will and 
endeavors, to fumigate Escalente with their incense." Cortes 
then made his little army a stirring oration, in which he re- 
minded them that, in case of defeat, there was no escape ; and 
that their only reliance was on a stout heart and the mercy of 
God. "To this he added many comparisons of our situation 
with those drawn from the history of the ancient Romans." On 
the-16th of August, 1519, with a little more than four hundred 
men, he set forth on the memorable March to Mexico. 

After passing the warm region of the tierra caliente, the little 
army, amid magnificent scenery, slowly climbed the gradual 
ascent which leads to the great Plateau of Mexico. They met 
a friendly reception from the inhabitants of Xalapa and Nau- 
linco, who were allies of the Totonacs : but the weather was 
cold and inclement, and several of the Indians (of whom more 
than two thousand accompanied them) perished from exposure. 
After several days of most fatiguing march, they emerged upon 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO, 183 

the great table-land, and reached the populous and well-built 
city of Cocatlan (Tlatlauqnitepec). In this place were thirteen 
teocallis or mound-temples, and in the vicinity was a receptacle 
in which were more than an hundred thousand skeletons, reg- 
ularly arranged, and supposed to have been the relics of human 
sacrifices. The cacique of this city received them coldly, fear- 
ing the displeasure of Montezuma, and, for the same reason, 
refused to give them any gold; adding, however, "should he 
command it, my gold, my person, and all that I possess, shall 
be at your disposal." 

Perhaps this disappointment may have sharpened the pious 
zeal of Cortes; for, after, as usual, explaining his position, he 
cried out authoritatively, "I now require you all who hear me, 
to renounce your human sacrifices, cannibal feasts, and other 
abominable practices; for such is the command of our Lord 
God." He was going to plant the cross at once, "but the 
Rev'd. Father Olmedo objected, upon the grounds of the ill- 
will and ignorance of the people, which might induce them to 
commit some outrage or indignity against that holy symbol; 
he therefore recommended that it should be deferred until a 
fitter opportunity." The good sense and moderation of this 
worthy friar were, indeed, often exerted in assuaging the cruel 
and fanatical zeal of his military flock. 

From this place, by' the advice of the Totonacs, Cortes took 
up his march for Tlascala, in which fierce and independent 
republic he trusted to find an efficient ally against the Aztec 
emperor. These people, who were a branch of the great Mex- 
ican family, had, for several ages, been at hostility with their 
neighbors, and, though hemmed in on every side by the domin- 
ions of the Mexican sovereigns, had always maintained a bold 
and warlike attitude. The fertility of their country, (Tlascala 
signifying "the land of bread") and the strength of its position 
had enabled them to preserve a prosperous nationality, in 
despite of fierce and repeated invasions. For the rest, their 
religion, their architecture, their human sacrifices and their 
cannibalism were much like those of their Aztec neighbors. 



184 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

To this martial race of people Cortes sent an embassy of 
friendly Indians, witli a letter (in Spanish !) and a conciliatory 
message. He then marched toward their territories, and was 
soon surprised at encountering a massive wall, built of immense 
blocks, extending for several miles between two mountains, 
and having only a single entrance, capable of strong defence. 
No garrison, however, appeared, and the little army of Span- 
iards pressed boldly into the Tlascalan territory. 

Their hopes of a friendly alliance were at first wofully dis- 
appointed. The chiefs of the Tlascalans had resolved to strike 
a deadly blow at their invaders. The Spaniards were at first 
encountered on the road to the capital by a force of three thou- 
sand natives, who were indeed repulsed by the fire-arms and 
cavalry, but retreated in good order. After this skirmish, they 
halted for the night, weary and exhausted, and dressed their 
wounds with the fat of the Indians who had fallen. This sin- 
gular and revolting species of chirurgery seems indeed to have 
been commonly practiced in this terrible campaign. 

On the following day, September 2d, a fresh body of natives 
appeared on the road to oppose them. The general commenced 
by making a formal protest, recorded by a royal notarj", 
against their proceedings; but the only answer was a shower 
of missiles. Hereupon he raised the Spanish war-cry, "St. 
Jago and at them!" and closed in conflict. The Indians were 
compelled to yield ground, though in good order, and the 
Spaniards, pressing eagerly upon them, were thus decoyed into 
a narrow defile, and found themselves in the presence of an 
army of many thousand warriors, led on by Xicotencatl, the 
most renowned general of Tlascala. 

This immense body closed around them with hideous cries 
and whistlings, and the roar of barbarian drums. The first 
victim was a horse, which the Tlascalans, with savage exulta- 
tions, cut in pieces, and dispatched to the neighboring towns 
as an- earnest of their victory. The Spaniards fought with the 
desperation of men whose lives were at stake, and their Indian 
allies, now three thousand in number, stood bravely b}- them. 




MONK AND SOLDIKR. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 185 

Success, indeed, seemed hopeless. "I see notMng but death 
before us," said one of the friendly chiefs; "we shall never get 
through the pass alive." By almost superhuman exertions, 
however, Cortes, charging with his cavalry, opened a small 
space in front, and the artillery was brought up. As the can- 
non played upon their crowded ranks, this space was enlarged ; 
and the anxiety of the Tlascalans to carry off their dead, ex- 
posed them to fresh carnage. After eight of his principal 
chiefs and a great number of their followers had fallen, Xico- 
tencatl drew off' his forces in regular order, and left the field to 
the Spaniards. The latter sought a secure place of encampment, 
and found it on an eminence named Tzompachtepetl, or "lull 
of Tzompach," on which stood a temple, the remains of \\'hich 
are yet visible. The loss of the Christians had been inconsid- 
erable, on account of the anxiety of the natives to take them 
alive for sacrifice — a circumstance to which, on many other 
occasions, these hardy adventurers were indebted for their lives. 

An embassy, with proposals of peace, was sent to the Tlas- 
calan camp, and soon returned with the fierce reply from Xi- 
cotencatl, " ' that we might go on to Tlascala, where peace should 
be made with us by devouring our bodies, and offering our 
hearts and blood to their gods; and that on the next morning 
he would give us his answer in person.' " " This language," says 
Diaz, "after what we had experienced, it must be confessed 
sounded most terribly in our ears." The envoys reported, 
moreover, that the Tlascalan general, with an army of fifty 
thousand men, in five great divisions, each commanded by a 
distinguished chief, was awaiting the Spaniards on the road. 
"When all this," adds the same honest recorder, "was commu- 
nicated to us, being but mortals, and like all others fearing 
death, we prepared for battle by confessing to our reverend 
fathers, who were occupied during the' whole night in that holy 
office."* 

On the following morning, September 15th, the Spanish 

* The naive old chronicler, who was fond of drawing from a very slender 
stock of classical allusions, mi^'ht have found a good precedent for liis anxiety 



186 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

adventurers, resolved on conquest or death, took the road to 
Tlascala. They soon came in sight of the Indian army, drawn 
up on a great meadow, and extending for several miles. This 
vast array was resplendent with barbaric ornaments — with glit- 
tering helmets, with armor of gold and silver, with mantles of 
feather-work, and innumerable standards. Among these was 
conspicuous that of the general, bearing "a white bird, with the 
wings spread, resembling an Ostrich." The principal weapons 
were javelins, darts, and arrows, headed with copper or obsid- 
ian — formidable enough, doubtless, in native warfare, but ill- 
fitted to resist the charge of cavalry, and powerless before the 
thunder of fire-arms and artillery. 

As the Spaniards came upon them, the air was darkened 
with flights of arrows and stones delivered from their slings ; 
but the discharge of cannon and musquetry made terrible havoc 
in return. A vast body of them rushed furiousl}' upon the 
invaders, and, by the mere force of numbers, drove back the 
little army of Spaniards in confusion. But the swords of the 
Castilians again cleared a space around them; the artillery 
played, and the cavalr}^, led by Cortes, charged fiercely among 
them. The attempt was again and again renewed, but each 
time with greater loss to the Tlascalans. Still, from their im- 
mensely superior number, they would probably have over- 
powered their enemies with exhaustion, but for the defection 
of two powerful chiefs, who, quarrelling with their leader, drew 
off their forces from the field. The Tlascalan general, seeing 
his army thus reduced, and having lost great numbers of his 
people, despaired of victory. After displaying the most chiv- 

in that of the Homeric heroes, and in the spiritual precautions which they took 
on the eve of battle : 

" ''AWog 5'aXXw s^s^s 'hsuiv akiysvsrauv, 
Eup^ofjLSvof Savarov ys (pvysTv xai fxwXov a.^y\og." 

Each his sacrifice made to one of the gods ever-living, 
Praying escape from death and the dreaded chances of battle. 

Such is the language of nature, in all ages, when simplicity or honesty allows 
it a voice. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 187 

alrous courage, during an action of four hours, lie drew off liis 
forces in good order, and the Spaniards, weary and wounded, 
retreated to their hill. Their loss had been comparatively 
small, and the dead were carefully and secretly buried in a 
subterranean vault. 

Fresh overtures 'of peace were now sent to Tlascala; but 
the chiefs of that town, though "much disgusted with their 
losses and misfortunes," were unwilling to yield; and accord- 
ingly consulted their priests and wizards as" to the invincibility 
of the invaders. The latter informed them that the Spaniards 
were Children of the Sun, and that all their force was derived 
from that luminary. An attack by night (contrary to the 
invariable custom of the nations of Anahuac) was accordingly 
planned ; but the Spaniards, who slept on their arms, gave the 
enemy so rough a reception, that they retreated with great loss 
— consoling themselves, however, with the sacrifice of a couple 
of the over-sanguine wizards. 

The Tlascalan caciques, thoroughly disheartened, were now 
ready for peace. They made many apologies for their hostility 
to the new embassy sent by Cortes, and dispatched one of their 
own to the Christian camp. But the fierce Xicotencatl, burning 
to avenge his successive defeats, intercepted the messengers of 
peace, and still held his hostile position. 

Many of the Spaniards were now heartily wearied of fighting 
and privation. Fifty -five of their number had perished since 
leaving Vera Cruz : and the idea of reaching Mexico had be- 
come a common jest in the army. A deputation of the chief 
malcontents now formally urged upon Cortes the necessity of 
return; but that indomitable leader firmly but calmly resisted 
their demands. In a spirited address he reanimated their 
courage and thirst for glory ; adding the comfortable assurance, 
"since, wherever we have preached to the ignorant natives the 
doctrines of our holy faith, I trust we shall still receive the 
divine assistance and that of my patron, St. Peter, * * * 
and as to what you say of losses, deaths, and fatigues, such is 
the fortune of war, and we did not come here in search of pas- 



188 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

times and amusements." Further remonstrances were made, 
but he "cut them short by saying that, according to the song-, 
it was better to die at once than to hve dishonoured," In thia 
chivalrous sentiment the majority joined, and the malcontents 
were compelled to silence. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SUBMISSION OF THE TLASCALANS ENTRY INTO THEIR CITY WEAK 

POLICY OF MONTEZUMA MASSACRE OF THE CHOLULANS THE 

MARCH RESUMED ENTRANCE INTO THE CITY OF MEXICO 

INTERVIEWS WITH THE EMPEROR MONTEZUMA. 

After considerable delay, during which the Spaniards and 
their allies committed a good deal of ravage in the surrounding 
country, a large embassy arrived from the Tlascalan chieftain. 
They fumigated Cortes, and addressed him as follows: "This 
present our general Xicotencatl sends you. If you are, as it is 
said, Teules,* and desire human sacrifices, here are these four 
women; take their hearts and blood for food; if you are men, 
here are fowls, bread, and fruit; if you are benignant Teules, 
we offer to you this incense and these parrots' feathers." Hav- 
ing, however, discovered that these men were spies, the general 
cut oif the hands of seventeen of them, and dismissed them, a 
miserable spectacle, to the Tlascalan camp. 

All thoughts of further resistance were now abandoned, and 
Xicotencatl himself, with the appointed envoj's and a large 
retinue, took his way to the quarters of the Spanish general. 
With great firmness and magnanimity, he took upon himself 
the entire responsibility of the war, and, admitting his defeat, 
tendered the obedience of his countrymen. Cortes received 
his submission very courteously, but with an ominous threat 
in case of any future hostilities. 

About the same time arrived a fresh embassy from Monte- 

* Supernatural beings. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 189 

zuma, consisting of five nobles, witli two hundred attendants, 
bearing splendid presents of gold and embroidered mantles. 
These emissaries brought a message of congi-atulation from the 
emperor, and an offer of tribute to the Castilian sovereign, if 
the Spaniards would forego their intended visit to his capital. 
This miserably impolitic step, of course, only inflamed the 
eagerness of Cortes and his hopes of completing the conquest. 
He also remarked, with secret exultation, the savage jealousy 
existing between the Aztecs and Tlascalans.* 

In compliance with the repeated and urgent requests of the 
latter, he now marched for their chief city; and was greeted 
on his way by crowds of the citizens, who thronged around 
the army, covering the soldiers, man and horse, with fresh roses. 
The day of his arrival (September 23d) is still kept as a festival 
by that city. The most cordial and hospitable reception was 
given to the whole army. The city was large and populous, 
thirty thousand persons, according to Cortes, being gathered in 
the market-place on public days. Many of the refinements of 
civilization were found : among them, public baths and an effi- 
cient police. The people of the whole country seemed bold 
and hardy, and gave promise of being admirable allies in his 
ambitious projects. 

Intermarriage, the usual seal of alliance, being proposed by 
the caciques, Cortes took the opportunity to enforce the neces- 
sity for conversion to Christianity. He held up to them, "a 
beauteous image of our Lady, with her precious Son in her 
arms," and explained to them at length the mysteries of the 
faith and the joys of Paradise, adding withal, "whereas, by 

* In a letter to Charles V., he expresses, with a sort of rascally nande, 
his complacent duplicity. "I was not a little pleased on seeing their want of 
harmony, as it seemed favorable to my designs, and would enable me to 
bring tliem more easily into subjection, according to the old saying, De Monte, 
<SfC. I likewise applied to this case the authority of the evangelist, who says, 
'Every kingdom divided against itself shall be rendered desolate;' and I dis- 
sembled u'ith both parties, expressing privately my acknowledgments to both 
for the advice they gave me, and giving to eacli of them credit for more friend- 
ship towards me than I experienced from the other." 



190 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

persisting in the worship of yonr idols, which are devils, you 
will be drawn by them to their infernal pit, there to burn eter- 
nally in flames of fire." To these things, and to the remainder 
of his "excellent harangue, containing much more matter to 
the same effect," the Tlascalans lent a reluctant ear, offering, 
however, to admit his God among their deities; and by the 
judicious advice of Father Olmedo, he did not press the matter 
too strongly, contenting himself with setting up crosses, releas- 
ing the destined victims of sacrifice, and baptizing the maidens 
who had been provided for his officers. Of these, the daughter 
of Xicotencatl was given in marriage to Alvarado, (afterwards 
the ferocious Conqueror of Gruatemala) who, from his fair com- 
plexion and golden locks, received from the Indians the name 
of " Tonatiuh," or the Sun. Their posterity intermarried with 
the noblest families of Spain. Among these people, as after- 
wards throughout Anahuac, Cortes received the title of Malin- 
che (the native name of his mistress Marina); and a high 
mountain in the neighborhood is still distinguished by that 
appellation, probably bestowed in honor of the Conqueror. 

Another embassy, with a rich present, now arrived from the 
Aztec emperor, entreating Cortes to beware of the Tlascalans, 
and to visit his capital forthwith. The latter people retorted the 
insinuation of treachery, and assured the Spaniards that prepar- 
ations for their destruction were being rapidly arranged in Cho- 
lula, through which city the emperor had requested them to pass. 

Embassies from various districts soon arrived, tendering 
submission or alliance, and among them one from Ixtlilxochitl, 
the enemy of Montezuma, and the aspirant to the entire throne 
of Tezcuco. That from Cholula, however, came with "a very 
dry and uncourteous answer to our message," says Diaz, ^^and 
without any present whateverJ^ This heinous offence was so 
resented by Cortes that he dispatched an angry answer, and 
enforced at least a show of submission. Despite the warnings 
of the Tlascalans, who were now his firm friends and allies, he 
determined to take his route by the way of Cholula. 

That ancient and celebrated city, the most sacred in all 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 191 

Analiuac, lay only a few leagues distant, and was one of the 
most important of tlie numerous tributaries which owned the 
sway of Montezuma. It was especially famed for the antiquity 
and splendor of its religious edifices, which were numbered by 
hundreds, and 'of which the most famous, the great Pyramid, 
still excites the wonder and admiration of all beholders. After 
a sojourn of three weeks in Tlascala, the Spanish army, ac- 
companied by six thousand warriors from that city, took up 
their march for Cholula. These native allies were, however, 
at the request of their new entertainers, left without the walls. 
.They met with a splendid and hospitable reception, being cov- 
ered with flowers by an innumerable throng which went forth 
to meet them. 

In a few days this pleasant aspect of affairs was changed. 
An unfriendly message arrived from Montezuma; their sup- 
plies were stinted ; and suspicions of a plot for their destruction 
became confirmed. A sacrifice to the war-god, including five 
children, intimated some hostile purpose among the citizens, 
and barricades were observed in several of the streets. The 
few inhabitants whom they saw in the streets withdrew from 
them "with a mysterious kind of sneer in their faces." The 
whole conspiracy, ere long, was discovered by Marina, who 
drew the particulars from a friend, the wife of a certain ca- 
cique. Cortes then sent for one of the priests, high in rank 
("in the manner of a bishop," says Diaz), and, by largesses, 
gained full information of the plot. He resolved to make a 
most signal and terrible example. 

Accordingly, the next morning, under pretext of quitting his 
quarters, he assembled a large number of the chiefs and inhab- 
itants in the great square of the city. As they crowded in, 
he exclaimed, "How anxious are these traitors to feast upon 
our flesh! But God will disappoint them." All being pre- 
pared, he made a fierce address to the assembled caciques, 
informing them that their scheme was discovered, and bitterly 
reproaching them that, " the recompense which they intended 
for our holy and friendly services was to kill and eat us, for 



192 KORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

whicli purpose the pots were already boiling, and prepared 
with salt, pepper, and tomatas." The caciques confessed the 
whole, but laid the blame upon Montezuma. He told them 
that the reward of their treason should be an example to all 
Anahuac, and at once gave the signal for slaughter. 

An indiscriminate massacre was then committed on the 
crowded multitude that filled the square. Flight or resistance 
was in vain, and those who hastened to their assistance from 
without were mowed down by discharges of artillery, which 
swept the crowded avenues. The Tlascalans, their ancient 
foes, also broke into the city, and committed frightful excesses. 
Before the slaughter could be stayed, six thousand of the Cho- 
lulans had perished; and the whole city was ravaged and 
plundered. Many of them were "burned alive," whether in 
the blazing buildings, or as an after-piece of cruelty, does not 
exactly appear. Some have attempted to justifj^ these atroci- 
ties, but perhaps with little better success than the reverend 
Fray Torribia do Motilinea, who held that, on the whole, the 
effect v,^as good, "as the natives were thereby convinced of the 
falsehood and deception of their idols, which they in conse- 
quence despised, as a proof of which they afterwards took down 
the principal one, imtting another in its ijlace^ 

This fearful example of the power and vengeance of the 
Spaniards struck the whole region with terror. Montezuma 
trembled in his capital. He forthwith dispatched an embassy, 
with fresh and splendid presents, to the victors. Elated with 
their success, the Spaniards, after a fortnight passed in Cholula., 
resumed their march to Mexico. Their Cempoallan allies, who 
stood in mortal dread of the wrath of the Aztec sovereign, 
were permitted to return to their homes ; but their places were 
supplied by more than six thousand of the hardy warriors of 
Tlascala. 

Marching with the greatest circumspection, ("with the beard 
ever on the shoulder,") they gradually climbed the lofty chain 
of mountains which environs the Valley of Mexico, '^i'licir 
course lay between the gi'eat Volcano Popocatepetl ami its 




IXTERVIEH' fiF.TfVFKJV C O li T F. Z A JVV M O X T K 7. U M .i . 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 193 

gigantic neighbor Tztaccihuatl, two of the highest summits in 
North America; and the cold air of these elevated regions 
pierced them to the bone. On attaining the summit of the 
ridge, they beheld that magnificent prospect which, to this duy, 
charms every beholder into rapture. Before them, stretching for 
many a league, and environed on all sides by lofty mountains, 
lay the A^ alley of Mexico — perhaps, after that of Granada, the 
richest and loveliest in the world. Clusters of glistening towns 
and villages surrounded the lakes ; and far in the distance 
lay that mighty city, the final prize of their adventurous career. 

On beholding such evidences of power and population, the 
fainter-hearted of the invaders would have turned back : but the 
daring spirit of their leader only rose the higher at the strength 
and splendor of his intended prey. Cheering his men, he led 
them down the mountain. A fresh embassy, with a rich pres- 
ent from the anxious Montezuma, soon met him. That un- 
happy monarch, unmanned by superstitious fears, now sent a 
conciliatory message, with an offer of much gold to the Span- 
iards and of tribute to their sovereign, if they would desist 
from their intended entry of his capital. All was in vain. 
Cortes determined to press on, and his men, though with sin- 
ister forebodings, resumed their march. Their Tlascalan allies 
assured them that, if permitted to enter the city, it would only 
be that they might the more easily be put to death; "and 
being like all other mortals, fond of our lives," says poor Diaz, 
"it filled us with melancholy thoughts." 

As they approached, the despairing emperor, by fi-esh sac- 
rifices and devotions, sought to avert the anger of his deities. 
No favorable response was vouchsafed him, and, in a council 
of his princes, he resolved on submission, moui-n fully exclaim- 
ing, "Of what avail is resistance, when the gods have declared 
themselves against us! Yet I mourn most for tlic old and in- 
firm, the women and children, too feeble to fight or to fly. For 
myself and the brave men around me, we must bare our brca.sta 
to the storm, and meet it as we may." 

The Spanish Commander, as he led his forces thi'ough the 
13 



194 NORfH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

numerous towns wbicli environed the capital, was successively 
met and welcomed by the nephew and the brother of the em- 
peror, with many other persons of high distinction. Every 
where they were amazed at the massive and admirable con- 
struction of the buildings and causeways, and at the evidences 
of luxury and refinement which they continually beheld. The 
8th of November, 1519, a day memorable in the history of 
America, was fixed on for their entry into the capital of Ana- 
huac. Their road lay over the great causeway, stretching 
across the lake, which is still the chief southern access to the 
city. The water, on either side, was covered with the canoes 
of the natives, who thronged to behold the wonderful strangers. 
The most studied and ceremonial courtesies delayed their course, 
and their own astonislmient at the splendor they beheld, fully 
equalled that of the Mexicans at their wonderful visitors. 
"We could compare it to nothing," says Diaz, "but the en- 
chanted scenes we had read of in Amadis de Gaul, from the 
great towers and temples and other edifices which seemed to 
rise out of the water. To many of us it appeared doubtful 
whether we were asleep or awake ; * * * never 
yet did man see, or dream of any thing equal to the spectacle 
which appeared to our eyes on this day." 

As the Spaniards, with their long files of Tlascalan allies, 
entered the great street of the city, Montezuma himself, borne 
in a litter, and attended by a great crowd of his nobles, went 
forth to meet the general. As the emperor alighted, Cortes 
dismounted from his horse, and these two men, each the object 
of such intense interest to the other, stood face to face. The 
Aztec emperor at this time was about forty years of age. He 
was, says an eye-witness of the scene, "of good stature, well 
proportioned, and thin: his complexion was much fairer than 
that of the Indians: he wore his hair short, just covering lijs 
ears, with very little beard, well arranged, thin and black. 
His face was rather long, with a pleasant countenance and 
good eyes. Gravity and good-himior were blended together 
when he spoke." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 195 

Whatever may have been his feelings, courtesy and hospi- 
tality were all tliat was apparent. He welcomed the Spaniards 
to his capital, and Cortes could not but acknowledge, in the 
fullest terms, the munificence and generosity which he had so 
repeatedly experienced. The emperor soon retired, attended 
with more than oriental deference and humiliation by his sub- 
jects, while his Spanish guests were conducted to their quarters. 
The whole city was alive with curiosity. "Who," says the 
old narrator, "could count the multitude of men, women, 
and children, which thronged the streets, the canals, and ter- 
races on the tops of houses, on that day ! The whole of what 
I saw on this occasion is so strongly imprinted on my memory, 
that," (fifty years afterward,) "it appears to me as if it had 
happened only yesterday. Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who gave us courage to venture upon such dangers, and brought 
us safely through them." Such was the entrance of this little 
band, animated by an invincible hardihood, into the renowned 
Tenochtitlan* — the fairest and most powerful city in the West- 
ern Continent; and whether we consider the audacity of the 
attempt, its wonderful success, or the strange and exciting nov- 
elty of the attendant circumstances, it must be regarded as the 
most remarkable exploit which military genius and desperate 
courage, in the breasts of a few, have ever accomplished. 

The Spaniards and their allies were lodged in an immense 
palace, built by the father of Montezuma, and fronting the 
great Teocalli or temple. In this extensive structure, seven 
thousand men were accommodated, and were at once supplied 
with every thing which a princely hospitality could provide. 
Montezuma himself was in the court-yard waiting to receive 
the general, and, on his arrival, hung around his neck a massive 
collar of gold, and, with fresh civilities, left him to repose. 
Notwithstanding these attentions, the invading leader imme- 
diately proceeded to fortify the palace, planting his cannon to 
command the avenues, and taking every precaution against a 
surprise. The old soldier from whose charming narrative we 

* The native appellation of the city of Mexico. 



196 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

quote so frequentl}^, concludes the day with a pious and self- 
complacent summary — "and here ends the true and full ac- 
count of our adventurous aud magnanimous entry into Mexico, 
on the eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord 1519. 
Glory be to Jesus Christ for all." 

After an interval for food and rest, the emperor, with his 
suite, again appeared, and distributed among his guests a pro- 
fusion of valuable gifts. He asked many questions concerning 
the Spanish sovereign, and was informed by Cortes that the 
latter was most anxious "to preserve the souls of him, his 
family and his subjects," and that he should soon have more 
light upon the subject — "with many other things highly edify- 
ing to the hearers." On the following day, Cortes, with a few 
of his captains, returned the royal visit, and was again amazed 
at the evidences of royal luxury and refinement — the orna- 
ments, the fountains, and the gay tapestry of feathers, that 
adorned the palace. Seated by the emperor, he entered into 
an elaborate explanation of the mj'steries of the church — the 
Trinit}^, the Incarnation, the Atonement, and other doctrinal 
points — and gave him the comfortable assurance, "that tliose 
things which he (Montezuma) held to be gods, were not such, 
but devils, which are very bad things, of evil countenances 
and worse deeds," and that "the emperor (Charles V.), lament- 
ins: the loss of souls in such numbers as those which were 
brought by his idols into everlasting flames, has sent us to 
a]3ply a remedy thereto." 

All these subtle abstrusities, filtered through the medium 
of an interpreter, made probably little impression on either the 
royal heart or understanding. He answered, however, with 
sense and moderation, that his gods Avere good, and so, no doubt, 
were those of the Spaniards, in whom he recognized the beings 
whose coming from the East had been so long predicted. He 
then led the conversation to gayer and more cheerful subjects, 
conversed with charming affability, and assured the general 
that he and his sovereign should share in all that he had — in 
wealth, autliority, and reverence. As he said this, however, 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 197 

a few natural tears fell from his eyes. Again lie distributed 
gold in profusion to his guests, "and he gave it with an affa- 
bility and indifference which made him appear a truly magni- 
ficent prince." As the cavaliers returned, they " could discourse 
of nothing but the gentle breeding and courtesy of the Indian 
monarch." 



CHAPTER V. 

DESCRIPTION OF MEXICO THE PALACES AND STATE OF MONTEZUMA 

HIS COLLECTIONS OF NATURAL HISTORY HORRIBLE RITES OF 

SACRIFICE DISCOVERY OF TREASURE. 

The present city of Mexico occupies the site of the ancient 
capital of the Aztecs, and the long causeways which led through 
the water still form its principal approaches. But the waters 
of Lake Tezcuco, by drainage, have shrunk away, and the 
Indian Venice which they environed is now surrounded by 
dusty fields, miles from the shore. At the time- of the Con- 
quest, it was probably one of the most beautiful and picturesque 
of cities. The houses were of reddish stone or brick, and 
numerous canals, with bridges, intersected it throughout. The 
number of houses is reported to have been sixty thousand, and 
the population, it is probable, was nearly half a million. Forty 
thousand persons are said to have assembled in the market on 
public days. The extent of its vestiges, at the present day, 
indicates a city of great population. 

Sanitary rules were carefully observed. The aqueduct of 
Chapul tepee brought a copious supply of fresh water into the 
city, and a thousand persons were daily employed in cleaning 
the streets. Among the most peculiar ornaments of this marine 
capital, were the numerous floating islands, of artificial con- 
struction, which supported, not only a great variety of flowers 
and vegetables, but trees of considerable size, and the cottages 
of their proprietors. 



198 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

The palaces of the emperor were of vast extent, and contained 
almost innumerable apartments. Many of these were devoted 
to the accommodation of a menagerie, the most complete and 
extensive, it is probable, in the possession of any sovereign of 
the day. Wild animals, collected throughout the most distant 
regions of Auahuac, were here lodged in numerous and con- 
venient receptacles; and the rarest and most beautiful birds, 
in vast numbers, were housed in magnificent aviaries, with 
every convenience to render their confinement endurable. 
But the fierce aspect of the caged animals and reptiles struck 
the half civilized conquerors rather Vv^ith horror than admiration. 
''In this accursed house," says one of them, "were many vipers, 
and other poisonous serpents, which have in their tail somewhat 
that sounds like morris-hells^ and they are the worst of all vipers; 
these were kept in cradles and barrels, and earthen vessels, 
upon feathers, and there they laid their eggs, and nursed up 
their snakelings. ^ * * These beasts and horrid 
reptiles were retained to keep company with their infernal 
gods, and when the lions and tygers roared, and the jackals 
and foxes howled, and the snakes hissed, 'twas a gTim thing 
to hear, and seemed like hell itself"* In this jDarticular, at 
least, the science and liberality of the Indian naturalist stand 
in strong contrast with European prejudice and superstition. 
Even the learned De Solis, writing a century and a half later, 
could hardly believe it possible that any prince should have 
cherished "this poisonous Article of Magnificence!" but con- 
ceives the report to have been a vulgar error, founded on the 
fierce and tyrannic disposition of the Aztec sovereign. 

A more barbarous, but perhaps not less royal taste was 
exhibited in a very extensive collection of monstrosities. 
"Muteczuma," says a writer of the day, "hath three great 
houses in a solitary place out of the way to refreshe and recre- 
ate himselfe in the heat of summer: in one of these he hath 
great plentie of monstrous men, as dwarfes, crooke backes, and 
men with one legge or two heades," &c. 

* "Era grima oirlo, y parecia infietno." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 199 

The vast extent and admirable arrangement of the Botanic 
Gardens of the emperor, as well as of other great lords, indicate 
refinement, of a certain character, to which no European nation, 
at that age, had attained. 

The state maintained hj the emperor, the populous condition 
of his harem, and the number of his attendants, who amounted 
to several thousands, all bore a strong resemblance to the lux- 
urious court of an Oriental sovereign. " No one of the Soldans," 
says Cortes in his dispatches, "nor any other infidel Signior, 
of whom I ever heard, has, to my belief, a court so stately and 
ceremonious." In the minute descriptions of the day, handed 
down by curious observers, we find the great Montezuma, after 
his dinner, smoking tobacco from an ornamented pipe — appa- 
rently a novelty to his guests, though Columbus, many years 
before, had found the natives of Cuba in the habit of using the 
same herb in the form of cigars. 

Nothing surprised the Spaniards more than the gloomy 
"Ilouse of Sorrow," to which the emperor was accustomed to 
retire, on the death of any of his relations, or in event of any 
public calamity or failure. It was colored entirely black, and 
hardly a ray of light could penetrate through the little windows 
to the funereal apartments within. "In this dismal Habitation 
he used to continue till the time of Mourning was over, and 
often," continues the fanatical Solis, "here the Devil appeared 
to him; whether it be that the Prince of DaiTiness took Delight 
in this Abode of Horror, or for the Sympathy there is between 
that malignant Spirit and a melancholy Humour." 

Four days after the entrance of the Spaniards, the hospitable 
monarch escorted them around the city to observe the most 
remarkable sights. Among these was the tianguez or great 
market-place, in which they were surprised at the multitude 
of the traders and the variety and richness of their wares. 
They then ascended the great teocalU or temple, tlie summit of 
which they gained only by a winding path a mile in length, 
and encompassing the structure four times around. The top 
was a vast level area, broken only by a few objects. One of 



200 KORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

these was the ominous Stone of Sacrifice, destined to prove 
fatal to so many of tlieir number. It was a huge convex block 
of jasper, on which the victim was usually laid, with his breast 
heaved into the air, while the priest, with a sharp flint knife, 
laid open the space between two ribs, and seizing in his hand 
the palpitating heart, plucked it forth by main force, and held 
it up to the Deity, smoking in the sunshine. " Here was a great 
figure which resembled a dragon, and much blood fresh spilt." 

Presently the emperor "came out from an oratory in which 
his accursed idols were placed," and courteously welcomed his 
chief guest. Taking him by the hand, he pointed out the most 
interesting objects in the splendid prospect which lay below. 
All were struck with admiration, "and those who had been at 
Rome and Constantinople said, that for convenience, regularity 
and population, they had never seen the like." The fimatical 
leader was for erecting the cross forthwith, but his reverend 
adviser, with better sense, assured him the time was unpropi- 
tious. Cortes, then addressing the emperor, "requested that he 
would do him the favor to show them his gods." The details 
which follow, though revolting in the extreme, are not uuin- 
structive, as showing how certain refinements may consist with 
the most cruel and barbarous superstition. 

In the first shrine were seen "gigantic figures resembling 
very fat men,"* with altars before them, on which lay a num- 

* The forms of these hideous idols were composed of materials the most 
ingeniously disgusting — principally the blood of human beings, kneaded with 
the seeds of certain plants. The inhuman process is described by a contem- 
porary writer, in a letter to his Holiness the Pope, in terms of edifying 
indignation. 

"But ah, cruell wickednes, ah, horrible barbarousnes, they teare in peeces 
so many boyes and girles, or so many slaues, before the meale which is to 
bee baked, while they draw so much blood, as in stede of luke warme water 
may suffice to teAiper the lumpe, which by the hellish butchers of that art 
(without any purturbation of the stomeacke) being sufficiently kneaded, 
while it is moyst and soft, euen as a potter of the clay, or a wax chandler of 
waxe, so doth this image-maker, admitted and chosen to be maister of this 
damned & cursed work!" 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 201 

ber of human hearts lately torn from the victims. The walls 
were covered with human gore, thickly clotted from innumer- 
able sacrifices. "And when by torch-light they saw the wals 
besmeared with a redd colour, they made proofe with the pointes 
of their poniardes what it should be, and brake the walles. O 
bruitish minds! the walles were not only besprinckled with 
the blood of humane sacrifices, but they found blood vpon 
blood two fingers thicke." Other details, too disagreeable to 
be repeated, are given. "The stench," says Diaz, "was worse 
than all the slaughter-houses of Castile." The first of these 
idols was Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war, "with a great 
face and terrible eyes," whose body was covered with jewels, 
and who wore around his neck a necklace composed of human 
hearts and heads, cunningly wrought in gold and silver. The 
other, Tezeatepuca, the god of the infernal regions, "was cov- 
ered with figures representing little devils with tails of serpents." 
In another shrine was a hideous figure, half man, half alligator. 

"In this place," says the same narrator, "they had a drum 
of most enormous size, the head of which was made of skins 
of large serpents: this instrument when struck resounded 
with a noise that could be heard to the distance of two leagues, 
and so doleful, that it deserved to be named the music of the 
infernal regions; and with their horrible sounding horns and 
trumpets, their great knives for sacrifice, their human victims, 
and their blood-besprinkled altars, I devoted them, and all 
their wickedness, to God's vengeance, and thought that the 
time would never arrive that I should escape from this scene 
of human butchery, horrible smells, and more detestable sights." 

The very natural expostulations of Cortes, on beholding these 
scenes, scandalized his entertainer, who assured him that he 
would not have exposed his gods to such insult, could he have 
foreseen it; and who, on the departure of the Spaniards, re- 
mained, to expiate, by fresh sacrifice, the probable wrath of 
his deities. 

Fresh horrors awaited them below. In the great court, 
"stood a tower, a true hell or habitation for demons, with a 



202 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

moutli resembling that of an enormous monster, wide open, 
and read}^ as it were, to devour tliose who entered. At the 
door stood frightful idols; by it was a place for sacrifice, and 
within, boilers, and pots fall of water, to dress the flesh of the 
victims, which was eaten by the priests. The idols were like 
serpents and devils, and before them were tables and knives for 
sacrifice, the place being covered with the blood which was 
spilt on those occasions. We never gave this accursed building 
any name except that of hell." Another teocalli presented a 
vast frame-work, on which were strung the skulls of innumer- 
able victims, mostly prisoners of war, who had perished on 
the Sacrificial Stone. Their number exceeded an hundred 
thousand. In the same square which contained all these enor- 
mities, were extensive and admirable institutions for the edu- 
cation of the youth of both sexes ! 

Not to form too exaggerated an estimate of the horrors of 
Mexican theology, we must remember that at this time, and 
long afterwards, human sacrifices^ in their most revolting form, 
were commonly celebrated by the most civilized nations of 
Europe. On the score of humanity, the sharp flint and up- 
rooted heart of the Aztec are surely prefei^able to the refined 
and lingering torments inflicted by the European ; — while, as 
to the principle involved, one can see little to choose between 
a blood-ofiering to the shrine of the fierce Huiztzilopotchtli, 
or to that of some fantastic theory, such as the Eeal Presence. 

In the great palace occupied by the Spaniards, a door, lately 
plastered over, was presently discovered. With very little 
delicacy, they broke it open, and found a hall filled with 
treasures of immense value, being a hoard amassed by Axay- 
acatl, the father of Montezuma, its former occupant. "I was 
then a young man," says Diaz, "and I thought that if all the 
treasures of the earth had been brought into one place, they 
could not have amounted to so much. It was agreed to close 
up the door again, and we determined to conceal the knowl- 
edge of it until the proper time should offer.'''' A chapel was 
erected in the palace, and Mass was solemnly performed every 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 203 

day, the Spaniards taking unusual pains with their deport- 
ment, that the natives might be edified by the spectacle. 
Their chief trouble was the "total want of wine for the holy 
sacrament, it having been all used in the illness of Cortes, the 
reverend father, and others." 



CHAPTEK VI. 

SEIZURE OF MONTEZUMA HIS CACIQUES BURNED AT THE STAKE 

DEMEANOR OF MONTEZUMA HOSTILITY OF THE GREAT 

NOBLES — THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SPANISH MONARCH 
ACKNOWLEDGED IMMENSE TRIBUTE OF TREASURE. 

In spite of the friendly entertainment which he continued to 
experience, the mind of the Spanish leader was ill at ease. 
He continually feared a hostile change in the hearts of the 
emperor or his people. Moreover, nothing but the subjuga- 
tion of the country could secure his favor with the crown. 
To retreat to the coast would be to throw himself into the 
hands of the incensed Velasquez. In this perplexity, he 
resolved on an expedient, the most daring, politic, and utterly 
unprincipled, which the mind of man could devise. It was 
nothing less than to seize the person of his generous and hos- 
pitable ■ entertainer, and to hold him prisoner, as a hostage 
for the obedience of his people. He was not long in finding 
a pretext. 

An Aztec chief, named Quaupopoca, had treacherously 
killed two Spaniards belonging to the settlement of Vera Cruz, 
and it was resolved to take advantage of this circumstance to 
quarrel with the emperor. The captains, though with some 
misgivings, assented to this audacious scheme, and all, says 
Diaz, "consulted our reverend father of the order of Mercy, 
praying to God to guide us in this difficulty. * * * 
"we passed the whole of the night in praying to our Lord 
that he would be pleased to guide us, so that what we were 



204 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

about to do should redound to his holy service," &c. Through- 
out the same night Cortes was heard pacing his room, like one 
oppressed with care and anxiety. In all this there is much to 
remind us of Cromwell and his military saints — so misdoubt- 
ing in resolve, so bold and unscrupulous in action. Nothing 
could better exhibit the compunction of these rough men at 
their intended crime, than this protracted "wrestling with the 
Lord," and striving to enlist his name in behalf of their 
unhallowed cause. 

After hearing Mass, and receiving the blessing of Father 
Olmedo, the Spanish general repaired to the palace with five 
of his captains, Alvarado, Sandoval, Lujo, Leon, and Avila — 
names memorable in the Conquest. An audience was readily 
granted, and the emperor, as usual, entertained his guests with 
sportive talk and munificent gifts. On seeing a sufficient num- 
ber of his soldiers assembled in the coiu't-yard, Cortes abruptly 
changed his tone,* and accused his host of the murder of the 
two Sjjaniards. Montezuma listened with surprise, disavowed 
the act, and promptly agreed to examine the case. Pulling 
off his signet,f he sent orders that the Aztec chief and all con- 
cerned in the murder should be immediately made prisoners 
and brought to the capital. 

With this Cortes professed himself satisfied, but (with what 
inward shame we may imagine) invited his host for the pre- 
sent to take up his abode with the Spaniards, as a proof of 
his good-will, and to convince their sovereign of his innocence. 

* Nothing can be more curious than the cool and unconscious way in which 
Cortes relates his transactions to Charles V. — personally a stranger to him. 
On this occasion, he says: "After conversing with him (Montezuma) in a 
sportive manner on agreeable topics, and receiving at his hands some jewels 
of gold, and one of his own daughters, I then said to him," &c. Is tliis the 
pure ndiceie of a mind deficient in the sense of respectability, or is it the 
exultant recapitulation of successful cunning and violence? Probably neither 
— ^and correctly to analyze the condition of his mind throughout tliese strange 
events would require more leisure and skill than are now at our command. 

f "A small stone," says Cortes, "resembling a seal, which he wore upon 
his arm." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 205 

At this insolent proposal, tlie unhappy Montezuma turned 
pale as death; then, flushing with offended pride, he exclaimed, 
"When was it ever heard that a great prince, like myself, 
voluntarily left his own palace to become a prisoner in the 
hands of strangers?" Assurances of safety and respect had 
no effect upon his mind. "If I should consent to such a de- 
gradation," he said, "my subjects never would." Two hours 
had been wasted in this vile discussion, when the fierce Velas- 
quez de Leon, with a rough voice, cried out, "Why, sir, do 
you waste so many words? Let him yield himself our pris- 
oner, or we will this instant plunge our swords into his body. 
Tell him this, and also, that if he says a word, he dies for it." 
This angry speech was interpreted to the unfortunate sovereign 
by Marina, who assured him that submission alone could save 
his life. Borne onward, as he imagined, by a remorseless 
Fate, he resigned himself to his destiny, and, escorted by the 
Spaniards, quitted his palace, never to return. His nobles 
and subjects, alarmed by the reports, would have rescued him ; 
but he assured them that he went by his own free will, aiid 
forbade any tumult or opposition. 

Cortes, sure of his prize, with his men, treated the captive 
emperor with the greatest deference and respect. Much of 
Ms establishment was removed to the Spanish quarters, and 
he held his court, and governed his empire, nearly as usual. 
But he was guarded in the strictest manner, and the soldiers 
were so fatigued with keeping watch, that one of them cried 
out, "Better this dog of a king should die, than that we should 
wear out our lives in this manner." With most of the Span- 
iards, however, he appears to have excited enthusiastic admir- 
ation and affection — so kingly, yet affable and generous was 
his demeanor. 

Quaupopoca, in obedience to the commands of his master, 
soon arrived at court, travelling in great state in a litter, and 
accompanied by fifteen Aztec chiefs. lie at first exonerated 
the emperor from any participation in the crime, but, after 
receiving sentence of death, declared that he had commenced 



206 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

hostilities in obedience to the royal command. Cortes at once 
commanded him and his fifteen companions to be burned alive 
in front of the palace — a deed which requires no comment, 
and which the unfortunate victims underwent with incredible 
calmness and endurance. While this atrocious sentence was 
being executed, the Spanish general entered the apartment of 
his prisoner, and, with severe reproaches, caused fetters to 
be fastened to his feet. He then abruptly left him. The 
wretched Montezuma made no resistance. "But though he 
spoke not a word, low, ill-suppressed moans, from time to time, 
intimated the anguish of his spirit. His attendants, bathed 
in tears, offered him their consolations. They tenderly held 
his feet in their arms, and endeavored, by inserting their 
shawls and mantles, to relieve them from the pressure of the 
iron. But they could not reach the iron which had penetrated 
into his soul. He felt that he was no more a king."* His 
spirit Avas completely broken, and when Cortes, entering the 
apartment, took off the fetters with his own hand, he found 
him humble and docile as a child whose spirits are broken 
by correction. He no longer sought to shorten the term 
of his captivity, but submitted implicitly to the will of his 
conqueror. 

There is, perhaps, hardly a passage in history more curious 
than this transaction in the capital of the Aztecs — and could 
the damning accompaniments of treachery, ingratitude and 
cruelty be left out, it might stand as the most splendid example 
of policy, boldness, and success that ever was recorded. Its 
effect, for a time, certainly was to put the Spaniards in complete 
possession of the government of all Mexico. Little compunc- 
tion seems to have been felt by the actors, exultant in success. 
Diaz, fifty years afterwards, writes, "Now that I am old, I fre- 
quently revolve and reflect upon the events of that day, which 
appear to me as fresh as if they had just passed, such is thb 
impression they have made upon my mind. I say, that it was 
not we who did these things, but that all was guided by the 

* Prescott's Conquest of Mexico. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 207 

hand of God. * * * There is much food for 
meditation in this," &c. 

Escahante, the commander of Yera Cruz, having been slain 
in a contest with the Indians, Cortes appointed in ]iis pLace 
one Alonso de Grado, a man of pacific disposition, dismissing 
him with a good-humored speech, which even now can hardly 
be read without laughing. "I charge you," he ended, "on no 
account to go out and fight the wicked Indians, nor let them 
kill you as they did Escalante." A bystander, who was dying 
to laugh aloud, says, "This Cortes said ironically, knowing the 
conditions of the man, and that all the world could not have 
got him to put his nose out of the town." Accordingly the new 
governor, in high glee, set off to his post; but, soon after, proving 
unfoithful, was recalled by Cortes, and summarilj^ sentenced to 
the stocks, "and I recollect," says the same close observer, 
"that the timber whereof these were made hath a strong smell 
of garlic." In this unsavory confinement, the delinquent re- 
mained two days, and Cortes appointed in his stead a youthful 
cavalier named Sandoval, one whose courage and abilities were 
destined to render him the most signal services. 

Meanwhile, the monarch, dethroned in all but name, became 
daily more intimate and affable with his new companions. 
"It is impossible," says one of them, "to describe how noble 
he was in every thing he did, nor the respect in which he was 
held by every one about him." On one point alone he stood 
firm — that of his religion. In vain did the reverend fathers 
ply every weapon of ecclesiastical persuasion, and as vainly 
did Cortes, in his daily visits, "usually fall into discourse about 
our holy faith." He remained faithful to his gods, and a few 
shallow compliments to their theology were all the satisfaction 
the Spaniards could gain. "The Devil," says De Solis, with 
his accustomed charity, "had got such an Ascendant over his 
Mind, that no Arguments were of Force enough to touch his 
obdurate Heart. It was not known whether he had a Com- 
munication with the Devil, or if he continued to a])pear to him 
as usual, after the Spaniards arrived at Mexico; on the contrarv, 



208 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

it was believ'd as certain, that from the first Appearance of the 
Gross of Christ in that City, all those infernal Invocations lost 
their Force and the Oracles became silent." Once more, how- 
ever, the royal captive was permitted, for the last time, to 
ascend his teocaUi, and perform the devotions of his faith, and 
once more to disport himself in the royal forests, abound- 
ing in beasts of chase. On both occasions he was strongly 
guarded, and on the latter, was transported, to his delight, 
across the lake, in one of two brigantines which the Spaniards 
had built. 

The powerful princes and caciques, who had so long yielded 
implicit obedience to Montezuma, were deeply concerned at 
his captivity; and his young nephew Cacama, the prince of 
Tezcuco, beheld with honest indignation the insolent assump- 
tion of the intruders. Though, by the ambition of his brother, 
Ixtlilxochitl, despoiled of a portion of his territories, he was 
still the most powerful sovereign of the valley. His capital 
contained an hundred and fift}^ thousand inhabitants, and in 
the splendor of its edifices rivalled Tenoehtitlan itself This 
brave and spirited prince, resolved to drive the invaders from 
the country, had formed a league with the brother of ]\fonte- 
zuma, and other powerful lords of the neighborhood. The 
captive sovereign was induced by Cortes to send him a message 
of expostulation; but the fiery chieftain returned the uncivil 
answer, "that his uncle, the king, was a pitiful monarch, and 
no better than a hen," and withal, in a private message, "rep- 
resented the disgrace into which he was fallen by connecting 
himself with wizards and magicians," adding that he was de- 
termined to destroy and uproot them from the land. To the 
demands of allegiance made by Cortes, he replied that "he 
knew nothing of the Spanish sovereign nor his people, nor did 
he wish to know any thing of them." To their treacherous 
invitations, he answered that he would come indeed, but with 
his sword in his hand, to rescue the emperor and the Aztec 
-gods from slavery. But ere he could make good his patriotic 
threats, this high-spirited prince was entrapped by tix-aeliei-v. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 209 

and liurried in chains to Mexico. The chief of his confederates 
met a similar fate. 

Thus secure in his position, the Spanish commander com- 
menced an examination of the resources of the country. He 
sent out exploring parties to the distant mines, and made dili- 
gent inquiries respecting the coast. It is a proof of the rapid 
progress of the Aztecs toward civilization that the emperor 
presented him "a map, admirably painted on cloth, of the 
whole northern coast as far as Tabasco, an extent of a hundred 
and forty leagues," By the Spanish surveys, the most eligible 
])ort appeared to be on the "river Coatzacualco, and thither, 
accordingl}^, Velasquez de Leon, with an hundred and fifty 
men, was dispatched to found a colony. In the fertile district 
of Oaxaca, Cortes also laid out an extensive plantation for the 
benefit of the crown. 

His next step was to exact a formal recognition of the sov- 
ereignty of the Spanish monarch from Montezuma and his 
lords. The latter, summoned from all quarters by their empe- 
ror, listened with surprise and sorrow to an address, in which 
he informed them that their allegiance, as well as his own, 
must be transferred to the sovereign of the white strangers, 
whose coming from beyond the seas had been so long predicted. 
"I now beseech you," he said, "to give them some token of 
submission: they require it of me; let no one refuse. For 
eighteen years that I have reigned, I have been a kind mon- 
arch to you, you have been faithful subjects to mc; since my 
gods will have it so, indulge me with this one instance of your 
obedience." As he said this, the tears rolled fast down his 
cheeks, and his nobles wept with him. They assured him that 
his wishes should be obeyed, and all, accordingly, took the 
oath of allegiance to Spain, in presence of the ojfficers and 
many of the soldiers, "not one of whom," says a witness, 
"could refrain from weeping, on beholding the agitation and 
distress of the great and generous Montezuma," 

With almost inconceivable rapacity, Cortes followed up this 
step by suggesting the propriety of a great present to be dis- 
14 



210 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

patclied to the Spanish sovereign. Couriers were at once sent 
out to collect tribute, and in a few weeks returned laden with 
valuables. In addition, Montezuma bestowed upon his gi'eedj 
guests the treasure of his father, lately discovered in their 
quarters. It consisted of a great variety of toys and utensils, 
wrought in gold and jewels with masterly skDl. "Take this 
gold," said the generous emperor, "which is all that could be 
collected on so short a notice, and also the treasure which I 
derive from my ancestors, and which you have seen." With 
these he laid a few splendid remains of his regalia, adding, 
with touching truth, "and this which I now give is the last of 
the treasure which has remained with me." By the profusion 
of their acknowledgments, it would seem that the Spaniards 
felt some shame at their rapacity in taking advantage of this 
princely generosity. The whole present amounted to six or 
seven millions of dollars, but so much was deducted for the 
fifth of the crown, for that of Cortes, with a recompense for 
Velasquez and others, that hardly a thousand dollars a-piece 
remained for the common soldiers; at which their discontent 
and vexation were extreme. Cortes and his friends, it was 
also said, had secreted much of the treasure before the division ; 
and it required "a great many honeyed words, which he had an 
extraordinary facility in using," to reconcile these rapacious 
spirits with the loss of their prey, and satisfy them with the 
indefinite prospect of future gain. What they did receive, 
though ill-gotten and worse divided, was employed worst 
of all — for, says Diaz, "deep gaming went on, day and night, 
with cards made out of the heads of drums; and thus we passed 
our time in Mexico," 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 211 

CIlArXER VII. 

IMPRUDENT ZEAL OF CORTES RESENTMENT OF THE MEXICANS CRITICAL 

CONDITION OF THE SPANIARDS TRANSACTIONS AT THE COURT OF 

SPAIN EXPEDITION DISPATCHED FROM CUBA UNDER NARVAEZ. 

All these profits and successes, however, seemed little to 
Cortes, so long as the pagan worship stood predominant, and 
the Holy Faith was compelled to hide its head in the Spanish 
quarters. He now coolly suggested to Montezuma that the 
great teocalli should be delivered up for the services of the 
Christian religion. His captive stood aghast at the proposed 
profanation. "Why, Malinche," he exclaimed, "will you urge 
matters to an extremity that must surely bring down the ven- 
geance of our gods, and stir up an insurrection among the peo- 
])Ie?" It was then proposed, as a compromise, that the Chris- 
tians should occupy one of the sanctuaries on the summit of 
the teocalli; and Montezuma, after a conference with his priests, 
"with much agitation and the appearance of deep sorrow, 
heavily consented." 

The strange spectacle was now presented of the solemn cere- 
monial of the Mass, performed side by side on the great 
plateau of the temple with the hideous rites of the Aztec 
worship. But the people, who had patiently submitted to the 
imprisonment of their sovereign, and their own menaced en- 
slavement, were unable to endure this affront to their national 
faith. The brow of Montezuma ("the sad prince") became 
more gloomy; he held frequent conferences with the nobles 
and priests; and at last formally announced to Cortes that the 
Aztec deities, enraged at the profanation of their shrine, were 
resolved on the destruction and sacrifice of the intruders. 
This unwelcome news (which, according to the Spanish histori- 
ans, he had received direct from Satan in person,)* was, how- 

* "At this time," says De Solis, [quite forgetting his late position in regard 
to the silencing of the Satanic Oracle] "The Devil wearied him with horrible 
Threats, deluding him with Voices real or imaginary from the Mouths of 
his Idols, to irritate him against the Spaniards." 



212 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

ever, only communicated to tlie Spaniards, that tliey miglit 
provide for their security by an immediate retreat. "If you 
have any regard for your own safety," he said, "you will 
leave the country without delay. I have only to raise 
my finger, and every Aztec in the land will rise in arms 
against you." 

The truth of this assertion was but too evident; and Cor- 
tes, to allay the hourly-increasing excitement, promised to 
leave the country as soon as vessels could be provided. The 
construction of several, on the sea-coast, was immediately 
commenced — whether in good faith, or to gain time for the 
arrival of reinforcements, seems uncertain. 

In the Spanish camp, all was now gloom and apprehension. 
"The time of our stay in this city," says Diaz, "was one series 
of alarms, sufficient in themselves to have destroyed the lives 
of those who were not supported by the Divine interposition." 
All slept upon their arms, and the horses stood day and night 
ready caparisoned for service. Such hardy soldiership, in these 
wonderful campaigns, was, indeed, almost habitual with the 
Spaniards, and, half a century afterwards, we find the same 
old soldier (then Regidor of Guatemala) pleasantly boasting: 
"Without meaning to praise myself, I may say, that m}^ ar- 
mour was as easy to me as the softest down ; and such is my 
custom, that when I now go the rounds of my district, I never 
take a bed with me, unless I happen to be attended by strange 
cavaliers, in which case I do it only to avoid the appearance 
of poverty or penuriousness; but, by my faith, even when I 
have one, I always throw myself on it in my clothes; such it 
is to be a true soldier! Another peculiarity I have is, I can- 
not sleep through the night, but always awaken and get up, 
in order to contemplate the heavens and stars, and thus I 
amuse myself, walking backwards and forwards, as I used to 
do when on guard, for a good space of time, without hat or 
cap ; and Glory be to God, I never yet caught cold, nor was a 
jot the worse for it. And this the reader must pardon me for 
mentioning, it not being from vanity, but that I wish him to 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 213 

know what kind of men we, the true-bred soldiers and real 
conquerors of Mexico, were." 

While they thus remained in the city, "very pensive and 
sad," startling tidings arrived from Vera Cruz (May, 1520). 
The emissaries of Cortes, (dispatched the preceding summer,) 
after having indiscreetly touched at Cuba, had held their way 
to Spain, and in October, 1519, had arrived at the port of San 
Lucar. All Spain was thrown into a feverish excitement by 
the news they brought; and the splendid treasures (the first 
gifts of the noble Montezuma) were the theme of rapturous 
and greedy admiration. Such, however, was the opposition 
and intrigue of Cortes' opponents, that his messengers were 
unable to obtain an audience before the Spanish monarch (the 
Emperor Charles V.) until the following spring; and when 
they succeeded, the hostile influence of Fonseca (the old per- 
secutor of Columbus) was too powerful to admit of their suc- 
cess. In May, 1520, the ambitious sovereign, absorbed in 
European intrigue, left his kingdom without attempting to. 
settle the command of Mexico, or to further the magnificent 
schemes for its conquest. 

Yelasquez, meanwhile, had been straining every nerve to 
wrest back the authority which, in an evil hour, he had sur- 
rendered to Cortes, and the value of which was every day 
becoming more apparent. With such zeal and energy did he 
set to work, and so great was the eagerness excited by the 
wondrous tales of Mexican treasure, that the whole island was 
ready to enlist under his banners. With almost incredible 
exertions, a fleet of eighteen vessels was fitted out; nine hun- 
dred men, with a large supply of artillery and munitions of 
war, were embarked; and the command of the whole was 
intrusted to Pamphilo de Narvaez, the favorite lieutenant of 
the governor, and his chief instrument in the subjugation of 
Cuba. He was a man of great boldness, but arrogant, and 
exceedingly deficient in prudence. 

This formidable armament, by far the greatest which had 
been fitted out in the West Indian colonies, sailed from Cuba 



214 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

in Marcli, 1520, and in the latter part of April anchored off 
San Juan de Ulua. On learning the wonderful successes of 
Cortes, the wrath of the new commander was extreme; and 
he loudly proclaimed his intention to inflict on him the pun- 
ishment due to a traitor. He forthwith dispatched a priest, 
named Guevara, a notary, and four others, to demand the sur- 
render of Vera Cruz, then commanded by Sandoval. That 
fiery but cautious cavalier, however, had put himself in a 
strong posture of defence ; and, the better to insure the adhe- 
rence of his garrison, had set up a gallows for the benefit of 
any who might waver in their fidelity. His first step, on 
receiving the summons of his clerical and legal visitors, was 
to seize their persons; and "thereon, a number of Indians 
{tamanes or porters) having been prepared for the purpose, 
threw trammels over them like so many damned souls, and, 
making them fast, instantly set off with them on their backs 
to Mexico; they hardly knowing if they were dead or alive, 
or if it was not all enchantment, when they travelled in such 
a manner, post haste, by fresh relays of Indians, and saw the 
large and populous towns, which they passed through with a 
rapidity that stupefied them. Thus they were carried, day 
and night, till they were safely deposited in Mexico" (seventy 
leagues). 

Intelligence of the arrival of the fleet had already reached 
that city, in the accurate pictures dispatched as usual to Mon- 
tezuma, and general exultation spread among the Spaniards 
at the arrival of the supposed reinforcement. Cortes, better 
informed, felt his situation almost desperate, but resolved on 
as desperate efforts to maintain the splendid position he had 
won. On the arrival of his involuntary guests, bewildered by 
their strange conveyance, he made all possible amends for 
their rough treatment. "He said so many civil things to 
them, and anointed their fingers so Avell with gold, that in a 
few days he sent back, as tractable as lambs, those who had 
set out against him like roaring lions." 

By these envoys he sent a conciliatory letter to his rival, 



CONQUEST OP MEXICO. 215 

offering submission to him, if lie liad a royal commission, 
(knowing he had none) and soon after dispatched the worthy 
Father Olniedo, with a plentiful supply of gold, to make friends 
in the hostile camp. That subtle ecclesiastic played his part 
so well, that in a little time disaffection spread widely; and 
many of the soldiers were eager to serve the generous and val- 
orous Conqueror, Narvaez, blind to his danger, and ill-paci- 
fied by the letters of his rival, continued to threaten haughtily, 
and as to Cortes, declared "that he would cut off his ears, and 
broil and eat them, with a great deal of such absurdity." 
These pompous menaces were echoed by Salvatierra and other 
swaggering captains about him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CORTES MARCHES AGAINST NARVAEZ DEFEATS AND TAKES HIM 

PRISONER GREAT ACCESSION TO HIS FORCE. 

Cortes now resolved on one of those daring expedients 
which, with him, were the common and almost certain pre- 
lude to success. He resolved to leave the city, and, Math a 
small part of his force, to try his fortunes in the enemy's camp. 
To hold possession of the emperor's person and the great city 
of Mexico, he was enabled to leave but an hundred and forty 
men, under the command of Pedro de Alvarado — a man, as 
it proved, miserably unfitted for such an important trnst. The 
Aztec emperor, though perplexed by these new events, prom- 
ised his influence to maintain order during the absence of his 
chief captor. In the middle of May, 1520, with only seventy 
soldiers, Cortes set forth from the city, in which, for six 
months, he had exercised, in the name of his captive, the 
most absolute power. He went to meet a force vastly out- 
numbering his own, and conscious that the result of all his 
past victories was now staked on a single throw. At Cholula, 
he was rejoiced to find Velasquez de Leon, whom, with an 
hundred and twenty men, he had dispatched to found a col- 



216 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

on J, and wiiose force lie bad immediately recalled. Marching 
toward Tlascala with this reinforcement, he soon met the 
reverend Father Olmedo, returning in high glee to narrate the 
success of his machinations. Further on, the garrison of Vera 
Cruz, under Sandoval, consisting of sixty men, made a wel- 
come addition to his little army — if such a term can be be- 
stowed upon two hundred and sixty men, only five of whom 
were mounted. 

A more moderate message from Narvaez, asserting his 
supreme authority, but offering a free passage to all who chose 
to leave the country, next arrived; but the Spanish general, 
pertinaciously insisting on his claims, and avowing that he 
was determined to maintain them to the death, pushed on. 
As he approached Cempoalla, where Narvaez had his quarters, 
he sent forward Velasquez de Leon, with a fresh store of gold, 
to win over the disaffected. This officer, though a relation of 
the governor, was now a devoted adherent of Cortes ; he made 
a great impression upon the new levies, "being a very polite 
and well-bred gentleman, of a fine figure and person ; and he 
now wore a great gold chain, Avhieh made two returns over his 
shoulders, and round his body, so that he gave the idea of a 
truly gallant soldier, and impressed all who beheld him with 
respect." Having dexterously fulfilled his mission, and nar- 
rowly escaped arrest, through the suspicion of Narvaez, he 
returned, and found his comrades reposing on their march, not 
far from the city. All gathered round to hear his narrative. 
"Then," says Diaz, "our merrj^, droll friar, (Olmedo) took off 
Narvaez, and told how he had persuaded the bragging fool, 
Salvatierra, that he was his cousin; and of the ridiculous 
speeches and gestures the fellow made when he was talking, 
how he would kill Cortes and all of us, for the loss of his 
horse, mimicking him to admiration. Thus were we altogether 
so like many brothers, rejoicing and laughing as if we had 
been at a wedding or a feast, knowing well that to-morrow was 
the day in which we were to conquer or die, opposed to five 
times our number. Such is the fortune of war!" 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 217 

The following niglit was dark and stormy, and Cortes resolved 
on an immediate assault. When within a league of the city, 
he made a stirring address to his men, conjuring them not to 
suffer the rich prize they had gained by such toils and dangers 
to be wrested from them by the intruders. "How often," he 
cried, "you have all been at the point of death in various wars 
and battles ! how we have suffered from fatigues, and rains, and 
winds, and hunger, sleeping on our arms, on the ground, and 
in snow: not to mention above fifty of our countrymen dead, 
and your own wounds as yet unhealed; our sufferings by sea 
and land, the perils of Tobasco, of Tlascala, and of Cholula, 
where the vessels were prepared in which we were to have been 
boiled! and our perilous entry into Mexico. In addition 
thereto, many of you have been on expeditions of adventure 
before this, and have risqued and lost your properties; and 
now, gentlemen, Narvaez comes, and maligns and asperses us 
with the great Montezuma, and immediately upon landing pro- 
claims war against us, with fire, sword, and rope, as if we were 
infidel Moors." He then proceeded, says one of them, "to 
exalt our persons and valor to the skies," and made, as usual, 
"an abundance of the most flattering promises." 

Fired with this rough eloquence, his followers, with one voice, 
cried out that they would conquer or die, and swore that if 
he again named a partition of the country, they would plunge 
their swords in his body. He applauded their spirit, and in 
the midst of storm ari^ darkness, led them on to the attack. 

To give a more legal color to his proceedings, he had ap- 
pointed Sandoval aVjuazil or sheriff, and had given him a 
written warrant, short and sweet; it ran thus: "Gonzalo de 
Sandoval, alguazil, &c. You are hereby commanded to seize 
the body of Pamphilo de Narvaez, and in case he make resist- 
ance, to put him to death; the same being necessary to the 
service of God and his majesty, whose officer he has imprisoned. 

"Given, &c. Hernando Cortes." 

This choice bit of legality, doubtless, greatly confirmed the 
confidence of his followers; but they well knew that the wliolc 



218 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

weight of tlieir swords would be necessary for its effective 
service. " What," savs one of them, " would we not have given 
for defensive arnior on this night! A morion, a helmet, or a 
breastplate would have fetched any money." 

Narvaez, meantime, relying on his superior force, displayed 
the most egregious carelessness. His host, the portly cacique 
of Cempoalla, in vain remonstrated. "What are you doing," 
said he, "and how careless are you! Do you think Mahnche 
and his Teules are so? I tell you that when you least expect 
it, he will come upon you, and put you all to death." The 
negligent general, indeed, marched out once to meet his ene- 
my ; but the rain was drenching and his men were discontented, 
so he marched back, and again took up his snug lodgings in 
the teocalli. 

In the dead of night, Cortes, with his men, stealing warily 
into the town, approached the quarters of Narvaez. The alarm 
was finalh" given, and the assailants, with loud cries of "Holy 
Spirit! Iloly Spirit!" rushed on to the attack. Narvaez and 
his people, though taken by surprise, made a gallant resistance. 
But it Avas too late. The assailants were in their midst, and 
the cavaliers who held out in the sanctuary, were compelled, 
by tiring the roof, to come forth. In the heat of the conflict 
their leader received a disabling wound. "Holy Mary assist 
me!" cried the unfortunate man, "they have killed me and 
struck out one of my eyes." The party of Cortes, catching up 
the word, cried out, "Victory! for the IJoly Spirit! Narvaez 
is killed." So sudden Avas the assault, that the defenders had 
only time to put lire to one of their pieces; "and that," says 
Cortes, "it pleased God, did not go off." "As to the fierce Sal- 
vatierra," says the exulting Captain Diaz, "his soldiei-s declared 
that they had never seen so pitiful a fellow, nor so terrified a 
being, when he heard our drum beat! but Avhen Ave shouted 
for victory, and cried that Narvaez Avas dead, he told them 
that he had got a pain in his stomach, and could fight no more. 
Such was the result of his bravados." 

The garrisons of the other temples, their OAvn artillciv being 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 219 

turned upon them, were compelled to surrender — a circumstance, 
doubtless, much facilitated by the promise that they should 
share the fruits of the conquest. With a loss of only six of 
his men, and twice that number of the enemj^, Cortes had suc- 
ceeded in overcoming a force more than three times greater 
than his own, strongly intrenched and provided with artillery. 
This remarkable result was owing partly to the favorable cir- 
cumstances of the night, partly to the suddenness and fury of 
his attack, and still more, perhaps, to the interest which his 
gold had procured him among the new levies. 

" B}^ this time it was clear day. Cortes, seated in an armchair, 
a mantle of orange color thrown over his shoulders, his arms 
by his side, and surrounded by his officers and soldiers, received 
the salutations of the cavaliers, who, as they dismounted, came 
up to him to kiss his hand. It was wonderful to see the affa- 
bility and the kindness with which he spoke to and embraced 
them, and the compliments which he made to them." Nearly 
all, both officers and soldiers, took the oath of allegiance to 
him as Captain-general. Thus, by an extraordinary concur- 
rence of policy, audacity, and good fortune, he suddenly found 
himself, as if by magic, from a desperate adventurer, the com- 
mander of a large and well-appointed force for the retention and 
extension of his conquests. On the same occasiDn was exhib- 
ited the disgraceful spectacle of the unfortunate Narvaez, " with 
on eye, who a litle before had the luster of 2 eies," led in 
chains before the victor, "and with him his chief consorts." 

Aware of the^lender tenure of his authority, he omitted no 
means to propitiate his new recruits. To the great disgust of 
his old soldiers, he compelled them to return all their spoil to 
the former owners.- "We were obliged to submit, and I for 
my part," says our old author, with touching regret, "was 
compelled to surrender a good horse, which I had put in a safe 
place, with a saddle and bridle, two swords, three poniards, 
and a shield." All the eloquence and entreaty of the successful 
general were needed to reconcile his men to this cruel piece of 
restitution, and still more to the valuable presents which he 



220 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

showered upon the defeated party. One of these rough spirits, 
Alonzo de Avila, compared his conduct to that of Alexander, 
who always rewarded the enemy more than his own soldiers, 
and finally grew so furious that Cortes, "was forced to dissim- 
ulate, knowing him to be a brave and determined man. lie 
therefore pacified him by presents, for he always apprehended 
some act of violence on his part." 



CHAPTER IX. 

MASSACRE OF THE AZTEC CHIEFS BY ALVARADO THE RETURN TO MEX- 
ICO HOSTILITY OF THE AZTECS FURIOUS FIGHTING FOR MANY 

DAYS IN THAT CITY THE DEATH OF MONTEZUMA. 

Hardly had Cortes succeeded in fusing together the dis- 
cordant elements of his force, when news arrived from Mexico 
which demanded the exercise of all his decision and energy. 
After his departure from that city, a great number of the Aztec 
nobles had, by permission of Alvarado, celebrated a solemn 
dance to their god Huitzilopotchli, in the court of the great 
teocalli. While engaged, in their gayest robes, in the enjoyment 
of this festivity, the Spanish commander and his men, with 
inconceivable folly, cruelt}^, and treachery, had fallen upon this 
unarmed multitude, and put them all to the sword. Of the six 
hundred who had entered the court, not a man was left alive ! 
and the jiavement ran with streams of blood, as with water in 
a heavy rain. The bodies of these unfortunate chiefs, adorned 
with their choicest ornaments, were eagerly plundered by their 
rapacious murderers. This horrible massacre, in Avhich the 
flower of the Mexican nobility perished, Alvarado attempted 
to justify, by the vague report of a conspiracy, and the necessity 
of striking the first blow. 

Whatever was the cause, the effect, naturally enough, was 
to arouse the Aztecs to a frenzy of rage and revenge ; and on 
the following morning, a desperate assault was made upon the 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 221 

garrison. The brigantines were burDed, seven of tbe Spaniards 
were killed, and a great number were wounded. At the inter- 
cession of Montezuma, however, the people desisted from open 
attack, and contented themselves with forming a regular block- 
ade, with the intent to destroy the Spaniards by famine. 

On the receipt of these alarming tidings, Cortes, relinquishing 
for the present his new schemes of conquest and colonization, 
determined to hasten to the relief of his beleagured companions, 
and regain the city. All, with alacrity, agreed to follow him; 
and leaving only a hundred men at Vera Cruz, he marched, 
with the remainder, with all speed to Tlascala. This friendly 
republic immediately furnished him with a fresh levy of two 
thousand warriors. His own forces amounted to about a thou- 
sand foot and one hundred horsemen. Thus reinforced, he 
hurried on, and soon reentered the Valley of Mexico. The 
few natives whom the Spaniards met, eyed them in a cold, 
unfriendly manner, and the great city of Tezcuco, on the lake, 
through which they passed, seemed half-unpeopled. On the 
2-ith of June, 1520, they crossed the causeway, and reentered 
the city of Mexico. What a contrast to the thronged and 
animated reception which they had met on their first entrance ! 
The city appeared utterly deserted, and Cortes, at the head of 
his troops, rode gloomily through the forsaken streets, filled 
with sinister forebodings. 

Great was the joy of the beleaguered garrison at his arrival ; 
but when he heard the story of Alvarado, he answered sternly, 
" You have done badly. You have been false to your trust. 
Your conduct has been that of a madman." With this speech, 
much like some of Napoleon's, he turned on his heel, and ab- 
ruptly left him. When Montezuma came to offer his welcome, 
the angry Conqueror would neither listen nor speak to him; 
and the unfortunate captive, wounded and displeased, retired 
to his apartment. 

The position of the invaders was now precarious in the 
extreme. More than twelve hundred Spaniards and eight 
thousand Tlascalans were crowded within the walls of the pal- 



222 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

ace, wliile the Mexicans stood sullenly aloof, and furnislied 
them with no provisions. The rage and arrogance of Cortes 
increased daily. When Montezuma sent to request an inter- 
view, he answered fiercely, "Away with him! the dog! why 
does he neglect to supply us?" Olid, Lujo, and others of his 
captains, sufficiently rough themselves, begged him to be mod- 
erate, and reminded him of the constant kindness and generosity 
of his captive. Irritated at this implied censure, he replied, 
still more angrily, "What compliment am I under to a dog 
who treated secretly with Narvaez, and who neglects to send 
provisions? Go tell your master and his people," said he furi- 
ously to the Aztec nobles, "to open the markets, or we will do 
it for them, to their cost." 

This injurious message, faithfully delivered by the envoys, 
only increased the popular sullenness; and Cortes, at the sug- 
gestion of Montezuma, released his brother Cuitlahua, a pow- 
erful cacique, to endeavor to pacify the minds of the multitude. 
The event disappointed him. This fierce and warlike chieftain, 
the next heir to the throne, smarting under his indignities, 
readily accepted the post of general to the insurgent Mexicans. 
The effect of his prompt and energetic command was at once 
apparent. The roofs and terraces in the vicinity of the palace 
were soon seen crowded with Aztec warriors, who kept up an 
incessant and galling discharge of missiles; and all the avenues 
were thronged with a dense crowd of advancing assailants. 
With fierce yells and whistlings they rushed on to the attack. 

The Spaniards and Tlascalans, protected by the strength 
of their position, made a brave and desperate defence ; but their 
enemies, though swept away by hundreds by the repeated dis- 
charges of artillery, pressed onward, regardless of their lives. 
"Some put themselves under the very Cannon, and assaulted 
with incredible Resolution, making Use of their flinted Instru- 
ments to break the Gates, and pick the Walls ; Some got upon 
their Companions' Shoulders to come Avithin the reach of their 
Weapons ; others made Ladders of their own Lances and Pikes 
to gain the Windows and Terraces ; and all in general exposed 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 223 

themselves to Fire and Sword like enrag'd Beasts, Notable 
Instances of a fearless Temerity, and which might have passed 
for gallant Actions, had true Valour performed that which, in 
Eealitj, was no other than a salvage Ferocity." — De Solis. 
They made vigorous, but futile attempts to batter down the 
walls with timbers, and succeeded in burning down the com- 
bustible portions of the palace. So dense was the crowd of 
assailants, the gTinners hardly had the trouble to point their 
pieces. Ordaz, who, with four hundred men, had made a sally, 
was driven back, and with great difficulty regained the fortress, 
having lost twenty-three of his people. The contest raged 
till nightfall — the Aztecs, throughout the day, exhibiting the 
most reckless and determined bravery. 

On the following morning, the great square and all the ave- 
nues around the palace were again crowded with the besiegers, 
who moved on in regular order under the great standard of 
Mexico, bearing the national device of an eagle seizing an oce- 
lot. Conspicuous above the rest, and animating their move- 
ments, was seen an Aztec chief, evidently of high rank, and 
Cortes inquired of Montezuma who he was. " It is my brother," 
said the unhappy monarch, with what emotions may be ima- 
gined. During the restless and anxious night, the Spanish 
commander had determined by a furious assault to strike terror 
into the enemy. Accordingly, after a general discharge of 
artillery and musketry, he sallied out with a great part of his 
force, and charged desperately into the crowded ranks of the 
populace. Taken by surprise, they were forced back upon 
their barricades. The artillery was ordered up, and a passage 
was cleared. A furious conflict, hand to hand, commenced. 
So vast was the number of the Aztec warriors, that slaughter 
seemed to make no impression on their ranks, and they fought 
with a fury and recklessness of life which soon convinced the 
Spaniards that they had mistaken the character of the people. 
"If we had been ten thousand Hectors of Troy," says Diaz, 
"and as many Roldans, we could not have beaten them -oif ; 
nor can I give any idea of the desperation of this battle. "'^ * 



221 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Then the stones and darts thrown on us from the terraces of 
the houses were intolerable. But I describe it faintly; for 
some of our soldiers who had been in Italy swore, that neither 
amongst Christians or Turks, nor the artillery of the king of 
France, had they ever seen such desperation as was manifested 
in the attacks of those Indians." Every canal was swarming 
with canoes, and the greatest eagerness was shown to seize upon 
the Spaniards for sacrifice. After nearly a whole day spent in 
continued fighting, (during which they burned several hundred 
houses,) the Spaniards and their allies, with wounded and 
diminished ranks, regained, with great difficulty, the protection 
of their quarters. 

At ni<;lit, according to national custom, the Aztecs desisted 
from attack, but annoyed the besieged, says Diaz, with much 
"reviling language, saying, that the voracious animals of their 
temples had now been kept two days flisting, in order to devour 
us at the period which was speedily approaching, when they 
were to sacrifice us to their gods; that our allies were to be 
put up in cages to fatten, and that they would soon repossess 
our ill-acquired treasure. At other times they plaintively called 
to us to give them their king; and during the night we were 
constantly annoyed by showers of arrows, which they accom- 
panied with shouts and whistling's." 

On the following morning the assailants made a desperate 
effort to carry the palace by storm, and succeeded in scaling 
the walls ; but all who entered were slain. It was now resolved 
to try the effect of what authority the captive emperor might 
still have over his people; and Cortes accordingly sent to re- 
quest that he would address the assailants in behalf of his 
gaolers. He answered, mournfully, " What does he want of me 
now? I do not wish to hear him. I wish onl}- to die." Be- 
ing urged, he continued, "It is of no use. They will neither 
believe me nor the false words and promises of ^Malinche. 
You will never leave these walls alive." But Father Olmedo 
and- others, "with the most affectionate and persuasive lan- 
guage," overcame his reluctance. The unhappy sovereign, for 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 225 

the last time, put on his gorgeous robes of state, and, decked 
once more in all the trappings of royalty, proceeded, with his 
retinue, to the battlements. 

"A change, as if by magic, came over the scene. The clang 
of instruments, the fierce cries of the assailants, were hushed, 
and a death like stillness pervaded the whole assembly, so 
fiercely agitated, but a few moments before, by the wild tumult 
of war. Many prostrated themselves on the ground; others 
bent the knee ; and all turned with eager expectation toward 
the monarch whom they had been taught to reverence."* In 
a calm, royal, and affectionate manner, he addressed the people, 
assuring them that the Spaniards were his friends, and would 
depart as soon as a way was opened for them. "Keturn to 
your homes," he said, "lay down your arms. The white men 
shall return to their own land, and all shall be well again within 
the walls of Tenochtitlan." Four of the principal chiefs came 
forAvard, and replied, "lamenting the misfortunes of him, his 
children, and his family," and adding, says Diaz, "that they 
had promised to their gods never to desist but with the total 
destruction of the Spaniards; that they every day offered up 
prayers for his personal safety, and as soon as they had rescued 
him out of our hands, they would venerate him as before, and 
trusted that he would pardon them." Hardly was this touching 
and loyal reply concluded, when the fiercer spirits in the crowd, 
enraged at seeing their emperor side by side with the enemy, 
broke into a storm of reproaches. A shower of missiles fol- 
lowed. The Spaniards put up their bucklers, but it was too 
late. The hapless Montezuma had received three wounds, one 
of which, on the head, from a .stone, laid him senseless on the 
ground. The Aztecs, horror-struck at the deed, dispersed, 
"with a dismal cry," and left the great square utterly deserted. 
The unhappy prince, borne to his apartment, was overwhelmed 
with anguish. He refused all medical aid, and tore from his 
wounds the bandages as often as they were applied, maintaining 
utter silence, and evidently determined not to survive his fall. 

* Prescott's Conquest of Mexico. 
15 • 



226 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

From the great teocalli, whicli almost overhung their quar- 
ters, the Spaniards were continually annoyed and endangered 
by a tempest of stones and arrows; and Cortes resolved on 
the desperate expedient of carrying it by storm. At the head 
of three hundred of his bravest cavaliers, and several thou- 
sand Tlascalans, he made a furious charge upon the entrance 
to the pathway, which, four times encircling the edifice, led to 
its summit. A shower of missiles, mingled with heavy stones 
and beams, was poured down upon them ; but assisted by mus- 
ketry from below, they made their way, and finally stood face 
to face with the foe upon the broad summit of the temple. A 
terrible engagement, hand to hand, lasting for three hours, 
here occurred in sight of the whole city. No quarter was 
given on either side, and many, hurled down the steep sides of 
the teocalli, found a terrible death on the rocky pavement below. 

"Here," says old Diaz, "Cortes showed himself the man 
that he really was! what a desperate engagement we had 
there! every man of us covered with blood, and above forty 
dead upon the spot. It was Grod's will that we should at 
length reach the place where we had put up the image of our 
Lady, but when we came there it was not to be found." As 
some consolation, the Spaniards burned the pagan sanctuary, 
and, seizing the hideous and gigantic figure of the war-god, 
hurled him down the steep sidG of the teocalli. With the loss 
of forty -six of his men, and the rest badly wounded, Cortes 
finally succeeded in clearing the top of the edifice — every 
man of its many hundreds of defenders being slain or hurled 
from the unprotected verge. He led the remainder of his 
force back to their quarters, with great difficulty, amid a fresh 
and most furious attack of the enemy. That same night, as 
if wounds and weariness were unknown to him, he sallied out, 
and burned three hundred houses. Despite these brilliant 
exploits, the situation of the Spaniards, from their losses and 
privations, and from the overwhelming force of their enemies, 
was daily becoming more desperate. Cortes now ofi'ered peace 
to the Mexicans, on condition of their submission, adding the 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 227 

haughty menace, "If you refuse, I will make your city a heap 
of ruins, and leave not a soul alive to mourn over it." The 
Aztecs replied, that if they could only kill one Spaniard for 
every thousand of their countrymen, they would be satisfied. 
"The bridges," they said, exultingly, "are broken down, and 
you cannot escape. There will be too few of you left to glut 
the vengeance of our gods " 

A retreat, for which the soldiers of Narvaez had long been 
clamorous, now seemed inevitable ; and the only question was, 
how to get out of the city ? The shortest causeway was that 
of Tlacopan, or Tacuba, two miles in extent, and it was re- 
solved to attempt to clear a way, through the principal street, 
to this precarious outlet. A huge mantelet or rolling tower 
was constructed, and moved down the avenue, but after doing 
considerable execution, was stopped by a canal. This was 
filled up, and so were six others, in the course of two days, a 
portion of the Spaniards and their allies being employed on 
the work, while others, with great difiiculty, fought and kept 
off the enemy. The exploits of Cortes, and of the redoubted 
cavaliers, his companions, in this harassing species of warfare, 
are certainly among the most wonderful which men, in desper- 
ate circumstances, had ever performed. 

Meanwhile, their unfortunate captive, keeping a determined 
silence, and firmly rejecting all food or medical aid, was rapidly 
sinking to the grave. All the exertions of the Eeverend 
Fray Olmedo and others, solicitous for his soul, could not 
induce him to embrace Christianity. He waved aside the cru- 
cifix, saying, coldly, "I have but a few moments to live; and 
will not at this hour desert the faith of my fathers." He sent 
for Cortes, and entreated him to protect his children, and to 
intercede with the Spanish sovereign, that he might allow 
them some portion of their inheritance. "Your lord," he said, 
"will do this, if it were only for the friendly offices I have 
rendered to the Spaniards, and for the love I have shown them 
— though it has brought me to this condition ! But for this 
I bear them no ill-will." Having said these words, he expired, 



228 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

on the SOtli of June, 1520, supported by a few chiefs, who 
had remained faithfully attached to his person. He was forty- 
one years of age, and had reigned eighteen. Of all 

" Sad stories of the death of kings," 

none, perhaps, is more strange and affecting than that of this 
ill-fated sovereign of a half-civilized empire, in the midst of a 
universal reverence, hardly short of adoration, so suddenly 
struck down by the hand of a mysterious Destiny, and doomed, 
after drinking the dregs of humiliation at the hands of his 
oppressors, to perish at those of his own distracted people. 

Fierce and rude as were the old "Conquistadors," they 
appear to have felt some natural compunction at the melan- 
choly fate of one whose generous and hospitable spirit they 
had so often experienced, and whose utter ruin their own vio- 
lence had occasioned. "Cortes and our captains wept for 
him," says Diaz, "and he was lamented by them and all the 
soldiers who had known him, as if he had been their father; 
nor is it to be wondered at, seeing how good he wasJ^ His 
remains, royally attired, were delivered to his people, and 
borne away. A distant sound of wailing and lamentation was 
heard, but, to this day, the resting-place of the Last of the 
Montezumas is forgotten and unknown. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE SPANIARDS RETREAT FROM THE CITY THE " NOCHE TRISTE," OR 

MISERABLE NIGHT^TERRIBLE LOSS ON THE CAUSEWAY 

RETREAT TO TLASCALA BATTLE OF OTUMBA FIDELITY 

OF THE TLASCALANS. 

In a council of the officers, an immediate retreat on Tlas- 
cala was now resolved on ; the only question being whether the 
attempt to leave the city should be made by day or night. A 
singular superstition led to the choice of the latter. "There 



CO:CQL"EST OF MEXICO. 229 

was with us," says our old author, "a soldier named Botello,* 
of respectable demeanor, who spoke Latin, had been at Rome, 
and was said to be a necromancer; some said he had a famil- 
iar, and others called him an astrologer. This Botello had 
discovered, by his figures and astrologies, and had predicted 
four days before, that if we did not quit Mexico this night, 
not one of us should ever go out of it alive." That himself 
would perish in it, he also averred to be certain. 

Immediate preparation for departure was made; and Cortes 
loaded eighty Tlascalans and eight wounded horses with as 
much treasure as they could carry. A vast quantity remained 
on the floor of the palace. He then said, in presence of the 
notaries, "Bear witness that I can no longer be responsible for 
this gold. Here is to the value of six hundred thousand 
crowns (of gold). I can secure no more than what is already 
packed; let every soldier take what he will; better so than 
that it should remain for these dogs of Mexicans." The ra- 
pacious soldiery, especially those of Narvaez, rushed in, and 
loaded their persons heavily with the glittering spoil; the 
veterans, more cautious, were slow to embarrass themselves 
with the precious encumbrance. 

Mass was said, and at the dead of night, (July 1st, 1520,) 
the Spaniards and their allies, as quietly as possible, marched 
forth from their fortress into the rain and darkness. The 
streets were deserted, and the van of the army finally emerged 
upon the open causeway. But hardly had they begun to con- 
gratulate each other on the prospect of escape, when the alarm 
was given. "The Teules are going!" was yelled by a hundred 
sentinels. Cries and whoops resounded on all sides; and the 
great drum on the teocalU sent forth its melancholy tones over 
the city. As if by magic, the Aztecs almost instantly were 

* De Solis avers that he was " an ignorant Fellow, without Learning or 
Princifljes, who mightily valued himself on penetrating into future Events:" 
and that he "made Use of some Characters, Numbers, Words, or Charms, 
such as cont'iin within themselves an abominable Affinity and Stipulation with 
the Devil, the Inventor thereof." " A pernicious Sort of People," he concludes. 



230 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

swarming around them. The water was alive with canoes, 
and a shower of missiles fell on the dense ranks of the fugitives. 

A portable bridge was placed over the first breach in the 
causeway, and the army, fiercely attacked on all sides, slowly 
defiled across it. Two more breaches were yet to be passed, 
and the bridge, when the rear-guard attempted to raise it, was 
found to be wedged immovably between the piers. When 
this appalling fact was known, a cry of despair arose from the 
thousands who, with water all around them, were crowded on 
the narrow causeway. A terrible scene ensued. Attacked on 
all sides, the mass pressed onward, and forced the leading 
ranks into the deep water before them. Some succeeded in 
swimming their horses across, through a SAvarm of enemies, 
and with great difficulty climbed the opposite side. The 
chasm became gradually filled up with artiller}', wagons, plun- 
der, and the bodies of men and horses, until a passage was 
afforded. In this scene of terror and confusion, the efforts of 
Cortes were useless, and, with a few determined cavaliers, he 
pushed on. The same tragical scene was repeated at the third 
breach, the Mexicans from their canoes climbing the causeway, 
and fighting furiously along its whole length. "It was dread- 
ful to hear the cries of the unfortunate sufferers, calling for 
assistance, and invoking the Holy Virgin or St. Jago. * * * 
the very sight of the number of the enemy who surrounded 
us, and carried off our companions in their canoes to sacrifice, 
was terrible." Great numbers, overburdened with gold, per- 
ished in the salt floods of the lake. 

Cortes, who had at last reached the firm ground, rallied a 
few of the cavalry, and, swimming across the third breach, 
hastened to the assistance of his comrades. It was too late. 
Nearly the whole causeway was in possession of the enemy, 
and he was driven back before an overwhelming force. In 
recrossing the breach, it is said that Alvarado, who had lost 
his horse, and was hard pressed by the enemy, saved hmiself 
by a prodigious leap, planting his spear on the wrecks that 
choked the passage. The place to this day is called the " Leap 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO, 231 

of Alvarado." Bj day-liglit, the wreck of the Spanish and 
Tlascalan army assembled on the firm ground. On beholding 
how few were left, the iron-soiiled Conqueror covered his face 
with his hands, and burst into tears. 

In this terrible defeat, still known as the "Noche Triste" or 
"Miserable Kight," four hundred and fifty of the Spaniards 
had been slain or carried off for sacrifice. This, with their 
previous losses, reduced their number to a third of those who 
liad so exultingly entered the city. Four thousand of the 
Tlascalans had perished or been made prisoners, and they were 
now reduced to less than a fourth of their original number. 
All the artillery and muskets had been lost, and nothing but 
their swords remained to hew their way through the enemy. 

The Spanish general led the remnant of his force, fatigued 
and wounded, to a hill, crowned by a temple, where they found 
temporary rest and security. The enemy, busy with plunder, 
and exulting over the multitude of their victims for sacrifice, 
had, for a while, suspended their attack. In the dead of night, 
the fugitives quietly left their halting-place, and marched by 
a circuitous route toward Tlascala, Their path was soon be- 
set by swarms of Aztecs, who rolled down rocks from the 
eminences, and grievously annoyed them with missiles. Num- 
bers were cut off by the enemy, and the remainder suffered 
excessively from hunger and fatigue. At the end of seven 
days, they had only advanced nine leagues in a direct line 
from the capital, though they had travelled more than thirty. 
On the 7th of July, they reached the mountain which over- 
hangs the Valley of Otumba, 

Here their worst forebodings were confirmed by the sight 
of an immense army below, drawn up to receive them. Clad 
in white cotton doublets, the enemy presented the appearance 
of a vast field of snow. The Spaniards and Tlascalans, weak 
with travel and privation, gave themselves up for lost; but 
determined to cut their way through the enemy, or to sell 
their lives as dearly as possible. Cortes, in a manly and en- 
couraging speech, animated his men, and, after commending 



232 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

them to the Holy Virgin and St. Jago, charged full upon 
the enemy. 

The ranks of the Aztecs were broken by the first shock, 
but they soon closed around the little body of their opponents, 
and a desperate combat, hand to hand, commenced. A descrip- 
tion of this extraordinary conflict cannot be given better than 
in the words of the stout old chronicler who shared it. 

"Oh! what it was to see this tremendous battle! how we 
closed foot to foot, and with what fury the dogs fought us! 
such wounding as there was among us with their lances and 
clubs, and two-handed swords, while our cavalry, fiivored by 
the plain ground, rode through them at will, galloping at half 
speed, and bearing down their opponents with couched lances, 
still fighting manfully, though they and their horses were all 
wounded; and we of the infantry, negligent of our former hurts, 
and of those which we now received, closed with the enemy, 
redoubling our efforts to bear them down with our swords. 

"Cortes, Olid, Alvarado, and Sandoval, though all wounded, 
continued to ride through them. Cortes now called out to us 
to strike at the chiefs; for they were distinguished by great 
plumes of feathers, golden ornaments, richly wrouglit arms, 
and devices. 

"Then to hear the valiant Sandoval, how he encouraged us, 
crying out, 'Now gentlemen is the day of victory! put your 
trust in God, we shall survive, for he preserves us for some 
good purpose.' All the soldiers felt determined to conquer; 
and thus animated as we were by our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
our lady the Virgin Mary, as also by St. Jago, (who undoubt- 
edly assisted us, as certified by a chief of Guatemozin -\\ho was 
present in the battle,) we continued, notwithstanding maii}^ had 
received wounds, and some of our companions were killed, to 
maintain our ground." 

After a furious contest of several hours, the Spaniards, sink- 
ing with wounds and fatigue, began to despair; but the valor 
and good fortune of their general redeemed the day. Spying 
the chief cacique carried in a litter, he drove full upon him, 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 233 

followed by his cavaliers, and dashed him to earth with his 
lance, as if struck by a thunder-bolt. Plis banner was seized, 
and terror spread through the ranks of the Aztecs. They gave 
ground, and finally retreated with great loss, the ground being 
strewed with bodies, adorned with the richest spoil. It is im- 
possible to gain a correct account of the number of Indians 
engaged in this combat : but they amounted to many thousands ; 
and considering the want of fire-arms, and the enfeebled con- 
dition of the white men, it is altogether the most wonderful 
victory ever achieved by European courage and discipline over 
the unwieldy myriads of the Indies. 

After this decisive action, the march to Tlascala was pursued 
without further interruption; and the friendly inhabitants of 
that country, though filled with grief at the loss of thousands 
of their warriors, received the fugitives with the greatest kind- 
ness and hospitality. They assured Cortes that they would 
stand by him to the death. 

His situation was, nevertheless, disheartening in the extreme. 
He was severely wounded, and a dangerous fever set in, from 
which he with dif&culty recovered. Forty -five of the garrison 
of Vera Cruz, marching from Tlascala to join him at the capi- 
tal, had been cut off, with the loss of much treasure. Twelve 
others had been put to death in Tepeaca ; and the scanty re- 
mains of his force, especially the followers of Narvaez, were 
eager for return to Cuba. Even his old friend Duero, "most 
heartily cursed the day he had embarked with him in the busi- 
ness, and the gold which he had been forced to leave in the 
ditches of Mexico." A formal remonstrance of the soldiers, 
attested by the notary, was presented to him. 

But despite his late misfortunes and his enfeebled condition, 
the mind of this daring and indefatigable man was eagerly 
revolving fresh plans to retrieve his losses and regain the Con- 
quest. He replied to the protest in the most determined and 
eloquent manner, "giving at least ten reasons for his plan, 
to every one which they alleged against it." His wondcr- 
ftd influence was once more asserted; his veterans pledged 



234 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

themselves to constant service, and the malcontents were forced 
to be silent. 

The fidelity of his Tlascalan friends was soon put to the trial. 
Cuitlahua, by the death of his brother Montezuma, had suc- 
ceeded to the throne of Mexico. He was the sworn enemy of 
the Spaniards, "and had, probably, the satisfaction of cele- 
brating his own coronation by the sacrifice of many of them." 
This warlike and patriotic prince, having repaired his capital, 
and put it in a state of defence, now sent an embassy of his 
nobles, with jDresents, to the Tlascalans, inviting them to bury 
past enmities, to unite in the common defence of Anahuac, and 
to sacrifice the detested strangers to the gods whose temples 
they had violated. A fierce debate arose in the council of 
Tlascalan caciques, and Xicotencatl, remembering with bit- 
terness his former defeats, urged on his country the accept- 
ance of the overtures. But ancient enmity proved more than 
equal to the claims of policy or religion ; and the old chief- 
tains, with united voice, protested against any alliance with 
their hereditary foes. "In reply to this, and to the discourse 
of his father to the same purpose, the young man made use 
of such outrageous and disrespectful language, as induced them 
to seize him by the collar, and throw him down the steps of 
the building into the street, and he very narrowly escaped with 
his life." The proposed alliance was peremptorily rejected. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE WAR RENEWED SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS GREAT FORCE 

OF INDIAN ALLIES ACCESSION OF GUATEMOZIN TO THE AZTEC 

THRONE — MARCH TO THE VALLEY OF MEXICO HEAD- 

QUARTERS ESTABLISHED AT TEZCUCO. 

Cortes now resolved to resume hostilities. His first expe- 
dition was against the Tepeacans, a nation under the Aztec 
rule, who had slain several of his men. With four hundred 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 235 

Spaniards and ten times that number of Tlascalan warriors, he 
marched upon their territory, and, after defeating them in two 
sanguinary engagements, entered their city in triumph. The 
unfortunate inhabitants were branded as slaves with the letter 
G, signifying that they were prisoners of war (Guerra), and were 
divided among the victors. Here Cortes took up his quarters, 
and hence made frequent incursions into the surrounding 
country. He took several strong places by storm, putting their 
Aztec garrisons to the sword, and defeated a force of thirty 
thousand men, which had been sent to oppose him. His lieu- 
tenants were equally successful, and in a brief time a large ter- 
ritory was brought under his sway. This remarkable result 
he accomplished as much by policy as by arms, reconciling the 
inhabitants of the various provinces, and uniting them in a firm 
alhance against their late masters the Aztecs. 

In the exigency of the time, many past offences were over- 
looked in a way which appears strange enough, compared with 
the fierce revenge before taken for much slighter offences. 
Thus, when Sandoval called certain chiefs to account for the 
slaughter of his countrymen, he only gained the unsatisfactory 
information, "that most of the Spaniards they had killed were 
eaten, five of them having been sent to their monarch Guate- 
mozin." The culprits, however, ^^ apologized {/) for what was 
passed, and Sandoval, being able to do no more, was fain to 
accept their submissions." 

Ever since his expulsion from Mexico, the Spanish leader 
had been brooding fiercely over the remembrance of his dis- 
astrous retreat, and planning new means to achieve the subjec- 
tion of the Aztecs. That powerful and justly-enraged people, 
he well knew, could never be vanquished by the handful of 
Spaniards who remained, though the surprise of superstition, 
and his prompt, unscrupulous policy, had once opened the gates 
of their capital to a force equally insignificant. But to the 
powerful alliance of Tlascala was now added that of numerous 
other provinces, united by his address, and eager for plunder 
and revenge. Remembering the disasters of the causeway, he 



236 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

now resolved to attack Mexico by water. He therefore dis- 
patched his ship-builder, Martin Lopez, to Tlascala, with orders 
to construct thirteen brigantines, using the iron and rigging 
which, with wonderful forethought, he had saved from the two 
fleets destroyed at Vera Cruz. 

A few of his followers, mostly men of wealth and office, 
beheld these preparations with dismay, "being utterly averse 
from a repetition of the days of Mexico and Otumba." These 
men he dismissed in one of the ships of Narvaez, and they 
"returned to Cuba with their pockets well lined, after all their 
disasters." His usual good fortune supplied their loss. Two 
vessels, which Velasquez had dispatched from Cuba to learn 
the fate of his last expedition, were successively entrapped at 
Vera Cruz, and their crews and munitions forwarded to Tlas- 
cala. From these, and from an unfortunate expedition dis- 
patched from Jamaica, his forces were recruited with an hundred 
and fifty men, with horses, arms, and ammunition. 

In a letter which at this time he dispatched to the emperor, 
he recounted his wonderful exploits and his terrible misfortunes, 
and requested that the country in the conquest of which he 
was engaged might be called, "New Spain" — a name which it 
has since commonly borne. Another, signed by nearly every 
person in his service, earnestly besought of the Spanish sover- 
eign a confirmation of his authority. He was still entirely 
ignorant of the manner in which his proceedings had been re- 
ceived at court ; and he remained for a long time in a state of 
harassing uncertainty whether the arrival of a fleet would bring 
him the royal approval and the anxiously-desired reinforcements, 
or an order that, like other illustrious servants of the crown, he 
should be sent home in chains from the land he had half sub- 
jected to its sway. At all events, prompt and energetic enter- 
prise was the course both of prudence and safety. Preparations 
for the siege of Mexico were vigorously carried on; the brig- 
antines were rapidly building; and fresh supplies of powder 
were manufactured with sulphur brought by his daring follow- 
ers from the crater of Popocatepetl. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 237 

Meanwhile, the sovereignty of the Aztec empire had again 
changed hands. The patriotic Cuitlahua, after a brief but 
honorable reign of four months, had perished of the small-pox, 
a disease imported in the fleet of Narvaez. This loathsome 
malady, pursuing its usual course among a strange people, had 
carried off myriads of the natives from the Gulf to the Pacific. 
"Thus black," says our old author, "was the arrival of Narvaez, 
and blacker still the death of such multitudes of unfortunate 
souls, which were sent into the other world without having an 
opportunity of being admitted into the bosom of our holy 
church." 

To fill the throne, the Aztec caciques made choice of Guat- 
emozin, a nephew of the two late emperors, and a prince of the 
most determined courage and patriotism. "He was a young 
man," says one who had often seen him, " about the age of twenty- 
five years, of elegant appearance, very brave, and so terrible 
to his own subjects that they all trembled at the sight of him." 

This valiant and able sovereign, already distinguished in 
war, was a deadly foe to the Spaniards. He took the most 
immediate and energetic measures for the defence of his capital. 
His vassals were every where commanded to make a desperate 
resistance; and high rewards were proclaimed for the head of 
every Spaniard who should be slain, and especially for those 
who might be taken alive for sacrifice. The weaker portion 
of the inhabitants was sent out of the city, and its garrison of 
Aztec warriors was strengthened and strictly disciplined. An- 
imated by his fearless and chivalrous spirit, all were determined 
to resist the invaders to the death. 

The force which Cortes had prepared for his gigantic under- 
taking, consisted of less than six hundred Spaniards, with forty 
horses and nine pieces of artillery; but the requisite physical 
force was abundantly supplied from the multitudinous ranks 
of his allies of Tlascala, Cholula, Tepeaca, and other tributary 
provinces. Their numbers, it is said, exceeded an hundred 
thousand, and they had already commenced an imitation of 
the European discipline. To both armies the general made a 



238 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

most eloquent address, inflaming their ardor to the highest 
pitch; while, the better to secure the divine favor, he issued a 
number of wholesome regulations for his own men, especially 
prohibiting gambling, and any blasphemy against the saints. 

On the 28th of December, 1520, he marched from Tlascala, 
leaving at that city the main body of his Indian levies, in 
readiness to await his commands. Crossing the rugged sierra, 
by a most painful and difficult route, the toiling Spaniards 
attained a height from which they once more beheld that beau- 
tiful Valley, the scene of such marvellous triumphs and such 
deadly suffering and peril, "We could see," says Cortes, "all 
the provinces of Mexico and Temixtitan, both on the lakes 
and around them. But although we regarded them with great 
satisfaction, this feeling was not unmixed with sadness, when 
we recalled the losses we had experienced there, and we all 
resolved never to quit the country again without victory, even 
should it cost us our lives." 

Skirmishing parties, of no very formidable nature, beset the 
way, but the invaders pushed on, and approached the walls 
of Tezcuco, which city was destined for their head-quarters. 
Cacama, the prince of that city, had been, as we have seen, 
made prisoner by Cortes, and, with some of the children of 
Montezuma, and other persons of eminence, had perished in 
the "Noche Triste." His brother, Coanaco, had then assumed 
the throne, and had evinced his enmity to the invaders by the 
massacre of forty-five of their companions — whose skins and 
accoutrements, a ghastly trophy, were afterwards found sus- 
pended in the neighboring temples.* A friendly message, how- 

* "In Tezcuco," says Cortes, "we found in the oratories, or temples of 
the city, the skins of five horses, sewed up, and containing the liorse-shoes, 
and the hands and feet of our men, * * and we found the blood of 
our companions and brothers, spilled and sacrificed in all the towns and tem- 
ples: the occasion of much grief." In another town, says Solis, continuing 
the ghastly narrative, "in one of their temples, were found the Heads of 
those Spaniards, dried in the Fire to preserve them from Corruption : A 
dreadful Spectacle! which, giving a fresh Idea of their terrible Death, made 
the Images and Representations of the Devil appear still more hideous." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 239 

ever, was sent to tlie advancing forces, and, on the 30th of 
December, Cortes and his followers entered the walls of that 
ancient city. 

The Spaniards, conducted to an immense palace, were struck 
by the desertion of the streets, so populous on their former 
visit, and naturally dreaded a conspiracy. From the summit 
of the great teocalli, which they ascended, they could see the 
inhabitants pouring forth in all directions, some by land and 
some by water, till the city was nearly deserted. Coanaco 
had fled to Mexico. Hereupon, Cortes, with a few of the chief 
inhabitants, appointed in his place Tecocol, his brother, who, 
during his brief reign, held only the shadow of authority, the 
real power being lodged in the hands of the Spaniards, and 
of his general, the warlike Ixtlilxochitl, who shortly after 
succeeded to the throne. This famous chieftain had, from his 
youth, been distinguished by the fierceness and hardihood of 
his disposition, and, before the age of twenty, had wrested 
from Cacama (his elder brother) a considerable portion of 
his territory. Ambitious of further rule, he had, on the first 
arrival of the Christians, made them overtures of alliance. 
He now became their most efficient friend and supporter, and 
in the following campaigns acquired "the melancholy glory of 
having contributed more than any other chieftain of Anahuac, 
to rivet the chains of the white man around the necks of his 
countrymen." 



240 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

COMMENCEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST MEXICO TAKING OF 

IZTAPALAPAN POLICY OF CORTES IN UNITING THE NATIVES 

GREAT ACCESSIONS TO HIS POWER VESSELS TRANSPORTED 

OVERLAND VARIOUS BATTLES WITH THE AZTECS — THEIR 

COURAGE AND RESOLUTION MARCH AROUND THE LAKES 

— GREAT VICTORY AT XOCHIMILCO. 

The city of Tezcuco was half a league distant from the 
lake, and to secure a communication for their vessels when 
completed, the Spaniards commenced digging a canal, on which 
seven or eight thousand Indians were kept constantly employ- 
ed. The plan of Cortes was, successively to reduce the num- 
erous cities in the neighborhood of the lakes, and gradually 
to hem in the devoted capital with a circle of enemies. Soon 
after his arrival in Tezcuco, he marched with a large force 
against Iztapalapan, a city of fifty thousand inhabitants, the 
former abode of Cuitlahua, and firmly loyal to the present 
emperor. Defeating a force of the Aztecs, drawn up to oppose 
him, he drove them in a tumultuous rout within the walls, 
f he inhabitants fought desperately, but were overpowered, and 
a massacre of six thousand, including women and children, 
ensued. 

As night came on, the town was set on fire ; but Avhile the 
Spaniards and their allies were abandoned to pillage and 
slaughter, their resolute foes, with the courage of despair, 
labored at undermining the dikes which surrounded their city. 
The salt floods of the lake poured in upon the assailants, and 
though Cortes ordered an immediate retreat, it was with great 
difficulty and some loss that they escaped, wet to the skin, 
their ammunition spoiled, and all the plunder washed away. 
"We passed the night badly enough," says Diaz, " being sup- 
perless and very cold; but what provoked us most was the 
laughter and mockings of the Indians upon the lakes." At 
day -break, a large body of the garrison of Mexico, crossing in 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 241 

canoes, attacked them fiercely, and after suffering considerable 
loss, they "returned to Tezcuco, in very bad humour, having 
acquired little fame or profit by this expedition." 

Many cities and provinces now sent in thdr adhesion to Cor- 
tes, who found the means for his projected enterprise hourly 
increasing. Of these the most important was Chalco, situated 
on the lake of that name, and which became a firm and efii- 
cient ally of the Spaniards. The wise and persuasive policy 
of Cortes reconciled these states, many of which had been 
at deadly variance, and united them in a firm alliance against 
the Mexican enemy. The brave Guatemozin, on his part, left 
no stone unturned for the defence of his capital, and by sever- 
ity or conciliation made vigorous efforts to retain the allegiance 
of his tributaries. To the demands of Cortes, he maintained 
a determined silence; but sufficiently evinced his resolution, 
by promptly, yet solemnly, sacrificing every Spaniard who 
fell into his hands. In several hard encounters, however, the 
Aztecs were defeated, although they "fought like men," and 
at one time, with a force of a thousand canoes, crossed the 
lake to dispute the possession of a large crop of maize, ready 
for harvesting. 

Ere long, the welcome news arrived from Tlascala that the 
brigantines had been completed, and were ready for transport- 
ation to the lake. Sandoval, who, with a portion of the Span- 
ish force, was detached to escort them, found them, thirteen iu 
number, already on the route, carried piecemeal by eight thou- 
sand of the Tlascalan laborers. Accompanied by an escort of 
ten thousand warriors, under the Cacique Chichemecatl, tliis 
huge procession, bearing the materials of a navy, wound over 
the rugged sierras, and marched triumphantly down into the 
valley.* For a full half day it continued to defile into Tez- 
cuco, with deafening shouts of "Castile! Castile! Tlascala! 

* Dc Solis, ordinarily prosaic enough, rather picturesquely describes this 
transit of the fleet, which, he says, "already began to float upon the Shoul- 
ders of Mi-n, among the Waves formed by the different Movements, which 
the Inequality of the Ground occasioned." 

16 



242 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

« 

Tlascala! long live his majesty the emperor!" This exploit, 
one of the most surprising in Spanish history, had been, in 
some measure, anticipated by the daring but unfortunate en- 
terprise of Balboa, five years before, on the isthm.us of Darien. 
This was early in the spring of 1521; and Cortes, resolving 
to take advantage of the presence of his auxiliaries, com- 
menced his campaign almost immediately after their arrival. 
With three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and the whole force 
of his native allies, he sallied forth to attack the city of Xal- 
tocan, situated in the lake of that name, and, like Mexico, 
accessible only by causeways. Over one of these, the storm- 
ing party charged impetuously, but was soon stopped by a 
wide breach, impassable for horse or foot. A swarm of canoes, 
filled with Aztec warriors, closed around the causeway, and 
the assailants, overwhelmed with missiles, were compelled to 
retreat — "all which," says the old soldier, "contributed to give 
our people a disgust to the expedition." Ere long, however, 
a ford was discovered, and the besiegers, forcing their way, 
in spite of all opposition, gained the town, and put its defend- 
ers to the sword. Pillage and conflagration followed as usual. 
From this place, marching, with little opposition, through the 
richest part of the valley, the victor came to Tacuba, the 
scene of his disastrous expulsion the year before. Eouting 
a strong body of Aztecs, drawn up to oppose him, he entered 
the suburbs. With the following morning, a fresh action 
took place; but after a sharp conflict, the Indians were again 
defeated, and were compelled, with the inhabitants, to quit 
the town. The fierce Tlascalans pillaged and fired the 
deserted buildings. 

Cortes took up his quarters in the palace, and daily engaged 
the Aztecs, who, undiscouraged by defeat, still bravely kept 
up hostilities. On one occasion, by an artful manoeuvre, he 
was decoyed upon the fatal causeway, and, assailed by a mul- 
titude of canoes, was compelled to retreat with much loss. 
He vainly attempted to open a negotiation; but the fierce 
caciques only answered with defiance, and tauntingly demanded 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 243 

■when lie intended to pay another visit to the capital. "Thej 
often pretended," he says, "to invite us to enter the city, say- 
ing, 'Go in, go in, and enjoy yourselves!' and at another time 
they said to us, 'Do you think there is now a second Monte- 
zuma, to do every thing you wish?'" Personal combats, con- 
ducted with great fairness and chivalry, daily took place 
between the native chieftains of the opposing ranks. 

After remaining six days in Tacuba, the Spanish general 
led back his forces to head-quarters, annoyed on the way by 
the desultory attacks of the enemy. He saw plainly that the 
time was not yet come for the subjugation of the haughty capi- 
tal of the Aztecs. It was strongly fortified, and doubtless 
valiantly garrisoned; and he turned his thoughts to minor 
enterprises, by which the way to his grand achievement might 
be laid open. The people of Chalco, surrounded by their 
Aztec enemies, had dispatched urgent entreaties for assistance; 
and accordingly, three hundred and twenty Spaniards, under 
Sandoval, were dispatched to their aid. That youthful but 
admirable officer, one of the bravest in the Spanish host, and 
second only to Cortes in military skill, collecting his allies, 
marched against Huaxtcpec, a stronghold of the enemy, which, 
after two hotly-contested actions, he succeeded in taking. In 
this place was a beautiful palace, with magnificent gardens, 
two leagues in circumference, stocked with an infinite variety 
of plants, useful, ornamental, and medicinal. 

Two days afterwards, he marched on Jacapichtla, a rocky 
fortress, perched on an almost inaccessible eminence. It was 
taken by storm, after a desperate assault, in which the Span- 
iards suffered greatly from the rocks which the enemy rolled 
down among them. The garrison were put to the sword, or 
driven over the precipice, and the stream which ran below 
was discolored with blood, for the space of an hour. After 
this brilliant exploit, the Spanish captain returned in triumph 
to Tezcuco. The people of Chalco, encouraged by these suc- 
cesses, and by the destruction of their enemies, took heart, 
and, in their turn, defeated a great force of Aztec warriors, 



2-14 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

which, in two thousand canoes, had been sent by Gautemozin 
to attack their city. 

Numerous embassies, some even from the remote shores of 
the Gulf, soon arrived at the Spanish quarters, tendering their 
allegiance. A welcome reinforcement of two hundred men, 
with eighty horses, (probably from Ilispaniola,) likewise at 
this time arrived at Yera Cruz, and soon made their way to 
Tezcuco. With them came Julian de Alderete, treasurer for 
the crown, and a reverend Dominican friar, the Fray Pedro 
Malgarejo de Urrea. This ghostly adventurer, with a keen 
eye to business, "brought with him," says Diaz, "a number of 
bulls of our lord St. Peter" (the Pope), "in order to compose 
our consciences, if we had any thing to lay to our charge on 
account of the wars. The reverend father made a fortune 
in a few months, and returned to Castile." 

The canal was nearly completed, and the brigantines were 
nearly ready for launching, though three desperate attempts had 
been made by the enemy to burn them on the stocks. Cortes 
determined to emploj'' the interval of leisure in a daring cam- 
paign, in which he proposed to march quite around the lakes, 
reconnoitering the country, and subduing the numerous cities 
which lay on the route. 

On the 5th of April, 1521, with three hundred and thirty 
Spaniards, and a force of native allies, he set forth; and, ar- 
riving at Chalco on the following day, met his confederates 
of the vicinity. Here he explained to them his intention of 
humbling the haughty capital of the Aztecs, and all enthusias- 
tically pledged their assistance. As a proof of their zeal, 
'more than twenty thousand of their adherents, on the follow- 
ing day, joined him in a single bod3^ These allies, says 
Diaz, not very complimentarily, "certainly were attracted by 
the hope of spoil, and a voracious appetite for human flesh, just 
as the scald-crows and other birds of prey follow our armies 
in Italy, in order to feed on the dead bodies after a battle." 

As the army, marching southerly, forced its way OA'cr the 
ragged sierras, it was assailed with missiles from many an 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 245 

Indian fort, perched high on some well-nigh inaccessible cliff. 
One of these Cortes attempted, but unsuccessfully, to take by 
storm. Eight of his bravest men were killed by the rolling 
down of rocks — the terrific nature of which may be imagined 
from the fact, that three of the cavalry, in the plain below, 
were slain in the same manner. A battle in the plain with a 
large force of Indians ensued, in which, however, the latter 
were thoroughly routed. Another disastrous attempt to storm 
a mountain fort, strongly garrisoned, was made in the after- 
noon; but in the following morning it was taken, and the gar- 
rison were treated with lenity. 

Passing through Huaxtepec, with its beautiful gardens, and 
through many towns deserted at their approach, the adven- 
turers, on the ninth day of their march, came to the strong and 
wealthy city of Cuernavaca, a tributary of the Aztec emperor. 
Before it, however, was a huge barranca or ravine, descending 
to a frightful depth, and to all appearance impassable. The 
garrison, protected by their walls, kept up a constant and 
annoying discharge of missiles on the invaders. From this 
perplexing position the latter were relieved by one of the most 
daring feats on record. Two great trees, growing on opposite 
sides of the ravine, and inclining towards each other, interlaced 
their boughs. Over this perilous bridge, a large number of 
Tlascalans, followed by thirty Spaniards, made their way — 
three only lost their footing, and fell. This force, taking the 
enemy by surprise, fell upon their rear ; at the same time Cortes 
succeeded in bridging the torrent below, and poured his bat- 
talions into the fated city. Its defenders were driven out, and 
the town was abandoned to pillage. The lives of the inhabit- 
ants, however, on the submission of their caciques, were spared. 

This victory achieved, the Spanish general led his troops, 
by a toilsome march, across the mountains, and descended upon 
the lake at Xochimilco, "the field of flowers," so called from 
the floating gardens by which it was surrounded. This popu- 
lous and w^ealthy city was defended by a strong garrison of 
Aztec warriors; and the assault on the causeway was unsuc- 



246 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

cessful. Fording tlie shallows, however, the Spaniards, after 
a sharp fight, gained the firm land, and a desperate battle ensued 
in the streets of the city. Cortes, his horse falling, was seized 
bj the enemy, and, half stunned by a blow, was dragged away 
prisoner. But the Tlascalans, fighting furiously, succeeded in 
rescuing him. Nothing but the intense anxiety of the Aztecs 
to carry him off alive for sacrifice saved him from destruction ; 
and the same cause often proved the salvation of the other 
Spaniards in these desperate hand-to-hand engagements. 

In an interval of the battle, he ascended the teocalh] whence 
he beheld the lake swarming with canoes and the Mexican 
causeways covered with troops, advancing to the rescue of the 
city.' The night passed quietly, but with the first break of day 
the Aztec legions, in overwhelming number, poured furiously 
into the city. Kepulsed by the artillery and pursued by the 
cavalry, they fell back upon their reinforcements, and the 
Spaniards, in their turn, were compelled to give ground and to 
fly for their lives. Ere long, however, they fell in with the 
main body of the troops, advancing to their aid, and the con- 
tending armies rushed fiercely together, and fought hand to 
hand. The issue of this terrific conflict was long doubtful ; 
but, in the end, the valor and discipline of the Castilian and 
the fierce impetuosity of the Tlascalan prevailed ; the Aztecs 
were routed and pursued with dreadful slaughter. The town, 
which was wealthy, offered much plunder ; but, while busy with 
their spoil, four of the Spaniards were dragged on board the 
canoes of the enemy, and, to the horror of their companions, 
were hurried across the lake for sacrifice. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 247 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ARRIVAL AT TACUBA GRIEF OF CORTES — CONSPIRACY AGAINST 

HIM THE FLEET LAUNCHED EXECUTION OF XICOTENCATL 

DEFEAT OF THE MEXICAN FLOTILLA MEXICO BLOCKADED 

GENERAL ASSAULT ON THE CITY. 

Leaving Xocliimilco in a flame, Cortes, on tlie fourtli day 
after liis arrival, set out for Tacuba; halting two days, to re- 
fresh his troops, at the deserted city of Cojohuacan. He had 
a sharp conflict on the great causeway of Iztapalapan, and, for 
want of ammunition, was forced to retreat. Marching to 
Tacuba, he was decoyed, with some of the cavalry, into an 
ambuscade, from which their most desperate exertions were 
needed to make good their escape. Two of his most faithful 
attendants fell into the hands of the enemy, and were carried 
off for sacrifice. The iron-nerved Conqueror was overwhelmed 
with grief "In a short time," says an eye-witness, "Cortes 
came up to us; he was very sad, and weeping."* 

On arriving in Tacuba, says the same narrator, " The general, 
with his captains, the treasurer, our reverend father, and many 
others of us, mounted to the top of the temple, which com- 
manded all the lake, and afforded a most surprising and pleasing 
spectacle, from the multitude of cities rising as it were out of 
the water, and the innumerable quantity of boats employed in 
fishing, or rapidly passing to and fro. All of us agreed in 
giving glory to God, for making us the instruments of render- 
ing such services; the reverend father also consoled Cortes, 
who was very sad on account of his late loss. When we con- 
templated the scenes of what had happened to us in Mexico, 
and which we could well trace from where we stood, it made 
Cortes much more sad than before. It was on this that the 
romaunt was written which begins — 

* " God only knows," he writes to the emperor, " my feelings on this occa- 
alon, on account of their being Christians and men of valor, who had performed 
in this war good service for your Majesty." 



248 KORTII AND SOUTH AMEiilCA. 

» "In T.ocuba was Cortes 

With all his valiant crew — 
Sad he stood, and very mournful 

Sad, with mighty cares opprest, 
One hand lifted to his cheek 

And the other on his breast," &c. 

One of our soldiers, the bachelor Alonzo Perez, who was after- 
wards fiscal in Mexico, in order to console him, observed, those 
things were the common fortune of war, and that they could 
not at present compare him to Nero viewing Eome on fire." 
To this the Conqueror, perhaps attempting to stifle a hint of 
conscience but half understood, replied, "You are my witness 
how often I have endeavored to persuade yonder capital peace- 
fully to submit. It fills me with grief when I think of the toil 
and the dangers my brave followers have yet to encounter 
before we can call it ours. But the time is come when we 
must put our hands to the work." 

On leaving Tacuba, the army, for some days, amid grievous 
weather, marched through the most difficult and miry roads, 
and finally, after an absence of three weeks, regained their 
quarters in Tezcuco, "fatigued, worn out, and diminished in 
numbers." 

Meanwhile, a conspiracy of the most deadly nature, for the 
assassination of Cortes and his chief ofiicers, had been set on 
foot by one Antonio Yillafana, and other malcontents of the 
army of Narvaez. But, on the day before that appointed for 
its execution, one of the conspirators, moved by remorse, re- 
vealed the whole matter to the general. With his usual 
promptness, he instantly arrested Villafana, who vainly en- 
deavored to swallow a paper containing the names of the con- 
spirators. Having glanced over this scroll, Cortes immediately 
tore it in pieces, and, with wonderful presence of mind, gave 
out that the prisoner had destroyed it. The culprit was imme- 
diately tried, found guilty, and, "having confessed himself to 
the reverend father, Juan Diaz, he was hanged from a win- 
dow of the apartment." 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 249 

The conduct of Cortes, on this occasion, exhibits the most 
remarkable policy and self-control. Knowing the names of 
all who had sworn his destruction, he made a speech, declaring 
that the prisoner's secret had perished with him ; his tone was 
conciliating, and he thus avoided driving the conspirators to 
desperation, or depriving his camp of numbers whom he could 
not afford to lose. But he kept a strict, though secret, watch 
upon them; and the army, indignant at the atrocity of the 
plot, insisted that the person of their general should be con- 
stantly protected by a guard. 

The canal, which had cost the labor of eight thousand 
men for two months, was now completed, and, amid the 
most solemn and imposing ceremonies, the fleet was launched 
upon the waters of the lake. Mass was performed, cannon 
were fired, and the whole army broke out into an enthusiastic 
Te Deum. The forces were mustered in the great square, and 
were found to amount to eighty-seven horse, and more than 
eight hundred foot. There were eighteen pieces of artillery, 
well supplied with ammunition, and fifty thousand arrows, 
with copper heads, beautifully finished by the natives. Three 
hundred men were selected to man the vessels, not without 
difiiculty, all exhibiting "a great averseness to act as rowers." 
A large gun was placed in each vessel, and Cortes determined 
to take command of the fleet in person. 

The Indian allies, from all quarters, had been notified to 
bring in their forces; and the readiness with which they came, 
evinced their zeal for the enterprise. The Tlascalans, fifty 
thousand strong, led by Xicotencatl and Chichemecatl, poured 
into Tezcuco ; while the others met at the neighboring city of 
Chalco. Alvarado, with two hundred Spaniards and twenty- 
five thousand Tlascalans, was ordered to take up his post at 
Tacuba, in front of the fatal causeway, and Olid, with a simi- 
lar force, at that which led from Cojohuacan. Sandoval, with 
an equal force, and supported by the fleet of Cortes, was to 
commence the campaign with the destruction of Iztapalapan. 
These orders issued, the general, in a brief and spirited har- 



250 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

angue, excited the spirit of his followers to the highest pitch 
of enthusiasm. 

An ominous incident threw its shadow over the commence- 
ment of the campaign. Xicotencatl, the bravest and j&ercest 
chief of Tlascala, suddenly left the camp, and journeyed home- 
ward. It seems uncertain whether he was prompted by the 
allurement of an amour, by some offence received from the 
Spaniards, or by a desire to seize the lands and treasures of 
his rival, Chichemecatl. He returned a haughty answer to the 
summons of Cortes, and was soon after seized by a party of 
cavalry, dispatched for his arrest. Conducted to Tezcuco, the 
unfortunate chief was instantly hanged, by order of Cortes, 
upon a high gallows, erected in the great square. His Avealth 
was confiscated to the crown. This act of violence, which the 
Spanish general justified on the ground of desertion, and 
which was prompted b}' his knowledge of the secret enmity of 
his victim, does not appear to have produced any serious dis- 
afiection among the Tlascalan levies. 

On the 10th of May, Alvarado and Olid set out, and soon 
took up their quarters in the deserted city of Tacuba. Hence 
they made a sally, and, after sharp fighting, succeeded in de- 
stroying a portion of the beautiful aqueduct which conducted 
the streams of Chapoltepec to the capital. This copious sup- 
ply of water was thus cut off from the beleaguered city. 

The next day they marched boldly upon the disastrous 
causeway, the scene of their former misfortunes. But the 
event of the "Xoche Triste" was well nigh renewed. The 
warriors on the dike, which was strongly fortified, made a gal- 
lant resistance; a multitude of canoes, on either side, assailed 
the advancing columns with a perfect storm of missiles; and, 
after a long and obstinate conflict, the Spaniards and their 
allies, with much loss and disgrace, were compelled to fall back 
upon their quarters. Olid and his force, the following day, 
took up their appointed post at Cojohuacan. 

Sandoval, after an obstinate battle, had gained possession of 
a part of Tztapalapan, and Cortes, with the fleet, set sail to 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 251 

assist him. The latter, on his way, passed under a steep cliff, 
(since called from him, "The Rock of the Marquess,") from 
which a body of Indians poured on him a shower of arrows. 
Landing, with an hundred and fifty men, he took the place by 
storm, and put the garrison to the sword. As he again set 
sail, a fleet of many hundred canoes ("four thousand!" says 
one) shot out from Mexico to intercept him, "which Multitude, 
with the Motion of their Feathers and Arms, afforded a Sight 
both beautiful and terrible, and seemed to cover the Lake." 
At this critical moment, a sudden breeze sprang up, and the 
brigantines, dashing under full sail among the light barks of 
their enemies, beat them to pieces, and whelmed their occu- 
pants in the waves. "We broke an immense number of Ca- 
noes," writes the general, "and destroyed many of the enemy, 
in a style worthy of admiration. * * It was," he continues, 
"the most gratifying spectacle, as well as the most desirable 
one in the world." The cannon and musketry also did great 
execution, and the remnant of the defeated flotilla fled for 
shelter to the canals of Tenochtitlan. The victor then "sail'd 
about the City, firing some shot into it, rather by way of Tri- 
umph, than for any Damage he did the Enemy; nor was he 
displeased to behold the Multitude of People that covered the 
Towers and House-tops, to see the Event of the Engagement ; on 
the contrary, he was so glad to have them Spectators of their 
own Loss, that tho' in reality they were too many, considered as 
Enemies, he thought them too few as Witnesses of his Exploit."* 
After this decisive advantage, Cortes sailed to Xoloc, the 
point of intersection between the great southern causeway and 
that of Cojohuacan. From this place, though well fortified, 
he drove the Aztec garrison, and resolved to make it his own 
head-quarters. For five or six days, however, and even during 
the nights, the Indians, (especially from the basins which ex- 
cluded the brigantines) kept up a constant system of annoyance, 
and discharged such showers of arrows that the ground of the 
camp was covered with them. At times, says Cortes, "the 

* De Solis. 



252 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

multitude was so great, that neither by land or water could we 
see any thing but human beings, who uttered such dreadful 
howls and outcries that it seemed as if the world would come 
to an end." They suffered much, however, by repeated dis- 
charges of artillery. 

"Considering that the inhabitants of this city were rebels," 
says the same narrator, with his customary coolness, "and that 
they discovered so strong a determination to defend themselves 
or perish, I inferred two things ; first, that we should recover 
little or none of the wealth of which they had deprived us (!) ; 
and second, that they had given us occasion and compelled us 
utterly to exterminate them." 

Two of the causeways were now closed up ; and Cortes or- 
dered Sandoval to occupy the entrance of the remaining one, 
that of Tepejaeac, which formed an outlet on the north. The 
cit}^, in its land approaches, was thus completely blockaded by 
three large armies. Unsatisfied with this advantage, Cortes, 
with indefatigable spirit, determined to harass the enemy with 
continual attacks; and accordingly ordered a general assault 
at the same hour on each of the causeways. After a solemn 
Mass, the cavaliers, led by the general himself on foot, and fol- 
lowed by a great force, advanced toward the city. Their pro- 
gress was soon arrested by a breach in the dike, beyond which 
was a rampart, stoutly defended by the Mexicans. It was im- 
possible to dislodge them until the brigantines, sailing on either 
side, fired on them and landed troops beyond the rampart. 
Cortes and his soldiers then followed by swimming, and the 
Indian allies filled up the gap by flinging down the rampart 
and throwing in other materials. Breach after breach was 
carried and filled up in this manner, the Aztecs fighting val- 
iantly, and only retreating before the invincible discharge of 
fire-arms. 

The Spaniards had now entered on the great street which 
had witnessed, two 3'ears before, their first triumphant entry 
of the capital of Anahuac. Every roof was crowded with war- 
riors, and a perfect storm of missiles hailed down upon their 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 253 

heads. But building after building was levelled to the ground, 
as the assailants slowly forced their way — a singular rehearsal 
of the scene in our own day, when the Anglo Saxons of the 
North fought their way through these very streets, against the 
descendants of both besiegers and besieged. For two hours 
the Aztecs defended a stone barricade, which finally was broken 
down by the heavy artillery. The Spaniards then pursued 
their enemies into the great square of the teocalli, the scene of 
such hardihood and suffering the year before. At the entrance 
they halted, overcome by remembrance of those terrible scenes ; 
but their undaunted leader, waving his sword, and shouting " St. 
Jago!" led them fiercely against the enemy. With a few in- 
trepid followers he rushed to the summit of the temple, and 
with his own hand tore the mask of gold and jewels from the 
hideous idol again set up in his blood-stained dwelling. After 
hurling the priests from the summit, the Spaniards hastened to 
rejoin their companions. 

The Aztecs, infuriated at this outrage, now attacked them 
with such ferocity, that, with their allies, they were driven in 
confusion down the great avenue. Total defeat would have 
ensued, but for a timely charge of the cavalry, which gave 
them the opportunity to rally and to retreat in some order to 
their quarters. Sandoval and Alvarado, on the opposite side, 
had been unable to penetrate the city. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SIEGE OF MEXICO CONTINUED CONSTANT FIGHTING ATTEMPT TO 

STORM THE CITY GREAT LOSS OF THE SPANIARDS TERRIBLE 

SACRIFICE OF THE PRISONERS ON THE GREAT TEMPLE. 

Eeinforced by an army of fifty thousand Tezcucans, led 
by the fierce Ixtlilxochitl, (which he distributed in the three 
camps,) Cortes resolved on a fresh simultaneous attack. The 
breaches, which the enemy had reopened, were again slowly 



254 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

filled up, and he once more led his forces into the great square. 
Here the Spaniards fired the palace of Axayacatl, their former 
stronghold, all the combustible portion of which was soon con- 
sumed, and the magnificent "House of Birds," the pride of the 
Aztec emperors. "The fanciful structure was soon wrapped in 
flames, that sent their baleful splendors, far and wide, over city 
and lake. Its feathered inhabitants either perished in the fire, 
or those of stronger wing, bursting the burning lattice-work 
of the aviary, soared high into the air, and, fluttering for a 
while over the devoted city, fled with loud screams to their 
native forests beyond the mountains."* 

"Although it grieved me much," says the Conqueror, "yet, 
as it grieved the enemy more, I determined to burn these palaces, 
whereupon they manifested great sorrow, as well as their allies 
from the cities on the lake, because none of them had supposed 
we should be able to penetrate so far into the city. This filled 
them with terrible dismay " — a dismay not a little increased, 
he remarks, when his allies " displayed to the inhabitants of 
the city the bodies of their countrymen cut into pieces, ex- 
claiming at the same time that they would have them for sup- 
per that night and for breakfast the next day, as was in fact 
the case." 

In this battle the young prince of Tezcuco, marching by 
the side of Cortes, amid the yells and reproaches of his coun- 
trymen, took a distinguished part, slaying with his own hand 
the leader of the Aztec squadron, A retreat was finally sound- 
ed, but the Mexicans hung on the rear of the Spaniards, 
fighting with such recklessness and desperation, that few of the 
latter reached their camp unwounded. Day after day, these 
terrible and exhausting assaults were kept up by the Spanish 
leader, who bears witness to the valor and constancy of his 
enemies. "Their conduct," he writes, "was certainly worthy 
of admiration, for however great the evils and losses to which 
they were exposed in harassing our march, they did not relax 
their pursuit till they saw us out of the city." 

* Prescott'a Conquest of Mexico. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 255 

Alvarado, despite his utmost exertions, had not, as jet, been 
able to make his entrance into the city, and his men were 
almost worn out with wounds, watching, and exposure. Gaute- 
mozin, on his part, was not idle. He made frequent and furi- 
ous sallies upon the three besieging armies, and by a wily plot 
succeeded in seizing two of their brigantines. Though famine 
began to press heavily on the multitudes crowded within his 
walls, he sternly rejected all proposals for peace and capitula- 
tion. His people, to some extent, found a horrible support in 
the bodies of their fallen enemies and of those who perished 
on the fatal stone of sacrifice. A number of the Spaniards had 
been carried off alive, and Diaz gives a thrilling account of his 
own escape from a similar fate, by the desperate use of his 
good sword. "When this mob," he says, "had their claws on 
me, I recommended myself to our Lord and his blessed mother, 
and they heard my prayer, glorified be they for all their mercies !" 

Vast numbers of Indian allies (amounting, says Cortes, to 
an hundred and fifty thousand) now poured into the Christian 
camps from the adjacent provinces. This numerous host was 
employed in rendering the siege more strict, and in reducing 
such detached strongholds of the Aztec emperor as still held 
out against the invaders. On the causeways, the fighting was 
almost continual. "I fear," says our old author, "to tire my 
readers with this repetition of battles. For ninety-three days 
together we were engaged in the siege of this great and strong 
city, and every day and night we were engaged with the ene- 
my. Were I to extend my narrative to include every action 
which took place, it would be almost endless, and my history 
would resemble that of Amides and the other books of chivalry." 

Cortes at last resolved on a grand attempt to carry the city 
by storm. He ordered that while he made the assault from 
the southern causeway, Alvarado and Sandoval, uniting their 
forces, should enter by that of Tacuba. His chief object was 
to gain possession of the gi'eat tianguez, or market-place, and 
thus open a communication between the two camps. 

On the following morning, the army of Cortes, having en- 



256 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tered the city, moved in three great bodies along the same 
number of parallel avenues, or causeways, all leading to the 
market-place. The Mexicans made no very formidable resist- 
ance; barricade after barricade was carried; and the ditches, 
except in one lamentable instance, were carefully filled up. 
But when the desired goal was nearly gained, all of a sudden, 
the horn of Gautemozin sent forth its shrill blast from the 
summit of the teocalU. At the sound, as if by magic, swarms 
of Aztec warriors closed around the advancing columns. The 
Avater was covered with their canoes, and the air was darkened 
by their missiles. The foremost column, driven back in con- 
fusion, was arrested by a deep gap, which they had neglected 
properly to fill up. Plunged into the water by the fury of their 
pursuers, they vainly attempted to cross the fatal breach. 
Great numbers were slain or drowned, and others, a more 
horrible fate, were carried off' alive. 

Cortes, who had hastened to the spot, in vain endeavored 
to assist his unfortunate companions. "At the moment I 
reached this bridge of troubles," he relates, "I discovered some 
Spaniards and many of our allies flying back in great haste, 
and the enemy like dogs in pursuit of them; and when I 
saw such a route, I began to cry 'Hold, Hold!' and on ap- 
proaching the water, I beheld it full of Spaniards and Indians, 
in so dense a mass, that it seemed as if there was not room for 
a straw to float. * * The causeway, he continues, 
"was small and narrow, and on the same level with the water, 
which had been effected by these dogs, on purpose to annoy 
us; and as the road was crowded also with our allies who had 
been routed, much delay was thereby occasioned, enabling the 
enemy to come up on both sides by water, and to take and 
destroy as many as they pleased." 

Cortes himself barely escaped becoming, in person, a not- 
able sacrifice to the idols. Seized by six Aztec chiefs, he was 
dragged toward a canoe, and was rescued only by the loss of 
several of his fiiithful attendants, who laid down their lives in 
his defence. Getting at last to the little body of cavalry on firm 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 257 

ground, he led them on a fierce charge against the enem}^, and 
brought off the remnant of his unfortunate companions. All 
the divisions retreated from the city, and were fiercely attacked 
in their own quarters. 

Alvarado and Sandoval, who had also penetrated nearly to 
the rendezvous, were likewise soon compelled to retreat be- 
fore the furious assault of the Aztecs, who flung before them 
five bloody heads, exclaiming that one of them was that of 
Malinche (Cortes). While retreating, hotly pressed, "we 
heard," says Diaz, "the dismal sound of the great drum, from 
the top of the principal temple of the god of war, which over- 
looked the whole city. Its mournful noise was such as may 
be imagined the music of the infernal gods, and it might be 
heard almost at the distance of three leagues. They were then 
sacrificing the hearts of ten of our companions to their idols. 
Shortly after this, the king's horn was blown, giving notice to 
his captains that they were then to take their enemies prisoners 
or die in the attempt. It is impossible to describe the fury 
Avith which they closed upon us, when they heard this signall." 

On this disastrous day, besides the loss of cannon and horses, 
many of the Spaniards had been killed, and nearly all wounded. 
Worst of all, sixty-two, (mostly under Cortes,) and a multi- 
tude of their Indian allies, had fallen alive into the hands of 
the enemy, and been carried off for sacrifice. That ver}^ even- 
ing, the dismal roar of the great drum was again heard; and 
the last rays of the setting sun fell on a long procession wind- 
ing up the sides of the huge teocalli. Among the victims, 
stripped to their waists, several were seen to be white men ; 
and the Spaniards, with unutterable horror, beheld their mis- 
erable comrades, with fans in their hands, and gaudily decked 
with plumes, compelled to dance before the hideous idol, and 
then stretched upon the fearful stone of sacrifice. As heart 
after heart was plucked out and laid before the altar, the 
bodies were hurled down the steep sides of the pyramid, and 
prepared by the priests below for a grand cannibal festivity. 

Night after night, these hideous scenes were rei)eatcd in full 
17 



258 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

view of the camp of Alvarado; and the Spaniards, with sick- 
ening hearts, were compelled to witness the fearful solemnities 
of a fate which any day might be their own. "During each 
night of this period," says a horrified witness, "the enemy 
continued beating their accursed drum in the great temple. 
Nothing can equal the dismal impression its sound conveyed. 
They were then in the execution of their infernal ceremonies ; 
the whole place was illuminated, and their shrieks at certain 
intervals pierced the air. * * * Let the reader ima- 
gine what were our sensations! 'Oh, heavenly God,' we said 
to ourselves, 'do not permit us to be sacrificed by these 
wretches!' * * * For ten nights together were they 
thus employed in putting to death our unfortunate companions." 
The priests, eager in their horrid ministry, seemed, amid the 
glare of sacrificial fires, like demons flitting about in their 
native element, and busied with the torments of the con- 
demned. Every morning, the Indians, stimulated by success, 
made furious assaults on the Spanish quarters, "and when 
they attacked," says the same narrator, "reviled us, saying 
that our flesh was too bitter to be eaten ; and tnfly it seems 
tliat such a miracle was wrought." 

Alarmed by these misfortunes, and still more by a predic- 
tion of the Mexican priests,* that within eight days the gods 
would deliver the Spaniards into their hands, the vast array 
of allies, troop after troop, melted away, and dispersed to their 
homes. Only the chiefs of Tlascala and Tezcuco, with a few 
of their followers, remained faithful. But though wounded, 
reduced in number, and worn out by continual assaults, the 
Spaniards, with characteristic courage and obstinacy, kept firm 
possession of the causeways. Their fleet commanded the lake, 
and cut off supplies from the besieged; and the heroic city, 
which had battled so bravely against its implacable enemies 
without, was fast yielding to a foe more terrible within. 

* "The Devil," says De Solis, (as usual) "at that time was extremely busy, 
instilling into the Ears of those deluded People" (the Mexicans,) "strange and 
f;illaciou3 Notions, the' he could not inspire their hearts with true courage."( ! ) 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 259 

Eight days liad passed, and the brief season of cannibal plenty 
and festivity was over; the allies, ashamed of their supersti- 
tious panic, began to flock back to the Spanish flag; and a 
short but vigorous campaign against the few provinces still 
faithful to the emperor, cut off his last hope of external aid. 
The arrival of a vessel at Vera Cruz, with fresh munitions of 
war, added greatly to the strength and spirit of the besiegers. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE SIEGE CONTINUED INDOMITABLE COURAGE OF THE AZTECS 

GRADUAL DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY TERRIBLE SUFFERING 

OF THE BESIEGED MEXICO TAKEN BY STORM FEARFUL 

MASSACRE CAPTURE OF GAUTEMOZIN REFLECTIONS. 

The siege was now pressed vigorously, and Cortes resolved 
to make himself master of the city, even at the expense of its 
almost total destruction. Building after building was levelled 
to the ground; the canals were filled with the materials; and 
the open plain, fitted for the charge of cavalry, was daily ex- 
tended. The brave but unavailing resistance of the garrison 
exposed them to terrible losses, but they still resolutely held 
out. The repeated overtures of the Spanish general were 
rejected by Gautemozin, the priests inflaming his revenge and 
patriotism, and holding before his eyes the fate of his uncle, 
the unhappy Montezuma. "Let us think only," he answered 
them, "of supplying the wants of the people. Let no man 
henceforth, who values his life, talk of surrender. We can at 
least die like warriors." 

A fierce and general sally was made upon every causeway ; 
the Aztecs, fighting under the eye of their emperor, rushed 
with desperation against the Spanish quarters; but the artil- 
lery, enfilading every dike, mowed down their crowded col- 
umns, and they were again driven back into the city. The 



260 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

work of destruction went on steadily amid the streets and pal- 
aces of the Aztecs, whose bitter taunts against the allies, the 
instruments of the ruin, were in the end fully verified. " Go on," 
they cried, "the more you destroy, the more you will have to 
build up again hereafter. If we conquer, you shall build for us ; 
and if your white friends conquer, they will make you do as 
much for them." At the close of each day, they usually 
made a general assault upon the retreating masses of soldiers 
and laborers, and inflicted considerable loss. 

The palace of Gautemozin was soon levelled and burned, 
and a free communication was established through the city 
with the camp of Tacuba. As the work of destruction pro- 
ceeded, horrible scenes of starvation, evincing the extremity 
of the garrison, were continually brought to light. Dead bod- 
ies strewed the streets and filled the canals, while the emaci- 
ated survivors — men, women, and children — were massacred 
indiscriminately by the ferocious allies. The great body of 
the defenders still held out desperately, and tauntingly assured 
the Spaniards that the gold they coveted was buried where 
they could never discover it, 

Alvarado, who had pursued the same destructive system as 
his general, had finally penetrated to the market-place, and 
taken by storm the high teocalU which overlooked it. In the 
sanctuary, says Diaz, "were beams, whereon were placed the 
heads of many of our soldiers; their hair and beards had 
much grown. I could not have believed it, had I not seen it 
with my own eyes. I recognised the features of three of our 
friends, and tears came into my eyes at the sight." The build- 
ing was fired, and its flames, glowing far and wide, illuminated 
the ill-fated city. 

The besieging detachments met, and Cortes, with a few at- 
tendants, rode through tlie great tianguez. It was abandoned 
by the warriors, but the roofs were crowded with the starving 
populace, gazing with terror on the dreaded enemy in their 
midst. From the summit of the feocalli, a hideous scene of 
desolation met the eye. Seven-eighths of the city were in ruin, 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 261 

and in the small portion yet unlevelled, was crowded an enor- 
mous multitude of human beings, suffering all the agonies 
of disease, famine, and despair. Still the garrison held out, 
and even made a brave but ineffectual attempt to drive the 
Spaniards from the square. 

The ammunition of the assailants falling short, unsuccess- 
ful recourse was had to the ruder devices for destruction of a 
more primitive age. "There was in the army a soldier who 
boasted of having served in Italy, and of the great battles 
which he had seen there. His name was Sotelo, and he was 
a native of Seville. This man was eternally boasting of the 
wonderful military machines which he knew the art of con- 
structing, and how he could make a stone engine, which should 
in two days destroy that whole quarter of the city, where 
Gautemozin had retreated. He told Cortes so many fine things 
of this kind, that he persuaded him into a trial of his experi- 
ments — lime, stone, and timber being brought, according to his 
desire. The carpenters were also set to work, two strong 
cables were made, and stones the size of a bushel were pre- 
pared. The machinery was now all ready, the stone which 
was to be ejected was put in its place, and the whole apparatils 
was played off against the quarters of Gautemozin. But, be- 
hold ! instead of taking that direction, the stone flew up verti- 
cally in the air, and returned exactly into the place from 
whence it had been launched. Cortes was enraged and 
ashamed; he reproached the soldier, and ordered the machine 
to be taken down ; but it still continued the joke of the army." 

But there was now little need for fresh engines of destruc- 
tion. In the close and suffocating quarters of the Aztecs, 
hundreds were dying daily from famine and pestilence. The 
adjacent streets were so crowded with carcasses, that no one, 
says Cortes, could set his foot in them, except upon a dead body. 
The stench was poisonous in the extreme. But Gautemozin, 
with almost insane obstinacy, refused to listen to any over- 
tures of peace, and seemed determined to bury himself in the 
ruins of his capital. He even, it is said, sacrificed one of his 



262 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

nobles, who had been sent bj Cortes with propositions for 
surrender. He made, indeed, several agreements to confer 
with the Spanish general; but, remembering the fate of his 
uncle, Montezuma, repeatedly disappointed him. The Aztec 
chiefs, says Cortes, cried out, as he rode near them, "You are 
said to be the Child of the Sun, but the Sun, in a single day, 
completes his course over all the world — why will not you as 
quickly destroy us, and relieve our sufferings — for we long to 
die, and to go to our god, Orchilobus (Huitzilopochli), who is 
waiting to give us rest in heaven." 

These despairing entreaties were soon granted. Cortes de- 
termined to take the remainder of the town by storm. On the 
12th of August, 1521, he led his overwhelming forces against 
the brave but famine-stricken multitude that still held the 
remnants of their city. The Aztecs, placing their strongest 
warriors in the van, fought with the courage of despair : but 
their emaciated limbs could no longer wield with effect the 
rude weapons of their nation. The allies swarmed in, and a 
hideous scene of massacre commenced. "So terrible was the 
cry," says Cortes, "and especially of the children and the 
women, that it was enough to break one's heart." In vain he 
strove to restrain the fury of the confederates. "Never did I 
see a people of such cruelty," he adds, "nor so utterly destitute 
of humanity, as these Indians." Forty thousand souls, accord- 
ing to his own account, had perished, before he drew off his 
forces. 

On the following day, he again led his army to the ruinous 
retreat of the survivors, and once more besought them to sub- 
mit. But their chief magistrate returned the melancholy 
answer, "Gautemozin will die where he is, but will hold no 
interview with the Spanish commander; it is for you to work 
your pleasure." "Go then," said Cortes, "and prepare your 
countrymen for death. Their hour is come." 

A rumor that the enemy were escaping in their canoes, pre- 
cipitated the attack. The unfortunate Aztecs, worn out with 
famine and suffering, and crowded in dense masses at the wa- 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 263 

ter's edge, offered a helpless mark to their enemies, by w^ater 
and bj land. A terrible massacre was made, and tliose who 
attempted to escape in their canoes, fell for the most part an 
easy prey to their pursuers in the brigantines. In one of these, 
as the cross-bowmen were about to shoot, a young warrior, 
armed with sword and buckler, stood up to defend it ; but as 
the Spanish captain ordered his men to hold, lowered his 
weapons, and said, "I am Gautemozin; lead me to Malinche, 
I am his prisoner; but let no harm come to my wife and my 
followers.'' 

The valiant prince, when brought before his conqueror, ap- 
proached him with a calm and resolute air, and said, " Malinche, 
I have done that which was my duty, in the defence of my 
kingdom and people. My efforts have failed, and since I am 
your prisoner," he added, laying his hand on the hilt of the 
general's dagger, "draw that poniard from your side, and strike 
me to the heart." But Cortes, struck with his chivalrous bear- 
ing, received him kindly, and assured him that he and his 
household should be treated with all honor. 

So terrible was the effluvia from the dead bodies, that the 
conquerors were compelled to withdraw from the city. That 
same night there came on "the greatest tempest of rain, thun- 
der and lightening, especially about midnight, that was ever 
known," displaying, to the imaginative mind, an awful mani- 
festation of the sympathies of nature. "It seemed as if the 
deities of Anahuac, scared from their ancient abode, were borne 
along shrieking and howling in the blast, as they abandoned 
the fallen capital to its fate."* Such was the conclusion of that 
memorable day which sealed the fate of the Aztecs. It was 
the 13tli of August, 1521, the day of St. Hypolitus, thence 
selected as the patron saint of Spanish Mexico. 

A dead silence, interrupted only by the feeble wails of the 

dying, now succeeded to the fierce clamor that had so long 

raged around the city. "The soldiers," says Diaz, "were all 

as deaf as if they had been for an hour in a steeple, with the 

* Prescott's Conquest of Mexico. 



26-i NORTH AJSTD SOUTH AMERIC.'v. 

bells ringing about their cars. This was owing to the contin- 
ual noise of the enemy for ninety-three days; some preparing 
their troops and bringing them on, shouting, calling, and whis- 
tling, as signals to attack us on the causeway; others in the 
canoes coming to attack our vessels; some again at work ujion 
their palisadoes, or opening the ditches and water cuts, and 
making stone parapets, or preparing their magazines of darts 
and arms, and the women supplying the slingers with their 
ammunition. Then, from the temples and adoratories of their 
accursed idols, the timbals and horns, and the mournful sound 
of their great drum, and other dismal noises, were incessantly 
assailing our ears, so that day or night we could hardly hear 
each other speak. But these dins immediately ceased on the 
capture of Gautemozin, for which reason, as I have observed, 
we felt like so many men just escaped from a steeple where 
the bells had been ringing about our ears." 

On the following day, the wretched remains of the popula- 
tion were permitted to pass out of the city — a spectacle so 
ghastly, that, says a witness, "it was misery to behold them." 
The number is variously estimated at from thirty to seventy 
thousand; it is certain that, for three days, the several cause- 
ways were each filled with a procession of wretched, emaciated 
creatures, who seemed rather like animated corpses than like 
human beings. The number of those who had perished during 
the siege cannot be accurately computed; but it must have 
been immense, for the population of many adjacent cities was 
crowded within the walls of the capital. "What I am going 
to say," says Diaz, "is truth, and I swear and say Amen to it. 
I have read of the destruction of Jerusalem, but I cannot con- 
ceive that the mortality there exceeded this of Mexico. * * * 
The streets, the squares, houses, and the Taltelulco were cov- 
ered with dead bodies; we could not step without treading on 
them; the lake and canals were filled with them, and the stench 
was intolerable." The actual mortality has been variously es- 
timated at from one hundred and twenty thousand to more 
than double that number. Vast numbers of the confederates 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 265 

of the Spaniards also had met their fate, within and around the 
city — no less than thirty thousand of the Tezcucans alone, it is 
said, having perished during the siege. 

Thus fell the renowned capital of Anahuac, after a siege of 
three months, in which the hardihood of the assailants and the 
resolute endurance of the besieged have never been surpassed. 
That the whole country, already, in a great measure, subjected 
by arms or by policy, should soon fall under the rule o.*^ the 
victors, followed as a matter of course. Such a result with such 
diminutive means could hardly have been achieved in any 
other age or by any other people. Nothing short of that won- 
derful union of ferocity, chivalry, rapacity, and fanaticism, 

"Stern to inflict and stubborn to endure," 

which, beyond all men, distinguished the Spaniard of the six- 
teenth century, could have led this little band to triumph 
through scenes of such continued peril and romance as at the 
present day almost challenge belief. " The whole story," says 
Mr. Prescott, "has the air of fable, rather than of history! a 
legend of romance, a tale of the genii!" 

"Whatever," continues the same admirable author, "may 
be thought of the Conquest in a moral view, regarded as a mil- 
itary achievment, it must fill us with astonishment. That a 
handful of adventurers, indifferently armed and equipped, should 
have landed on the shores of a powerful empire, inhabited by 
a fierce and warlike race, and, in defiance of the reiterated pro- 
hibitions of its sovereign, have forced their way into the inte- 
rior; — that they should have done this, without knowledge of 
the language of the land, without chart or compass to guide 
them, without any idea of the difficulties they were to encoun- 
ter, totally uncertain whether the next step might bring them 
on a hostile nation, or on a desert, feeling their way along in 
the dark, as it were; — that, though nearly overwhelmed by 
their first encounter with the inhabitants, that they should 
have still pressed on to the capital of the empire, and, having 
reached it, thrown themselves unhesitatingly into the midst of 



266 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

their enemies ; — that, so far from being daunted by the extra- 
ordinary spectacle there exhibited of power and civilization, 
they should have been but the more confirmed in their original 
design ; — that they should have seized the monarch, have exe- 
cuted his ministers before the eyes of his subjects, and, when 
driven forth with ruin from the gates, have gathered their 
scattered wreck together, and, after a system of operations, 
pursued with consummate policy and daring, have succeeded 
in overturning the capital, and establishing their sway over 
the country; — that all this should have been so effected by a 
mere handful of indigent adventurers, is a fact little short of 
the miraculous, — too startling for the probabilities demanded 
by fiction, and without a parallel in the pages of history." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TRANSACTIONS AFTER THE SIEGE TORTURE OF GAUTEMOZIN SETTLE- 
MENT OF THE COUNTRY TITLES AND OFFICES CONFERRED ON 

CORTES HIS OSTENTATIOUS STATE HIS WISE POLICY. 

The exultation of the Spaniards over their wonderful success 
was at first unbounded. The taking of the city was celebrated 
with a grand festival and a dance, of such intemperate revelry 
and license as grievously to scandalize the reverend Father 
Olmedo — who, however, by dint of "scolding and grumbling," 
converted the scene into a religious celebration, and inflicted a 
sermon on the delinquents. A grievous disappointment await- 
ed them in the small amount of treasure discovered in the 
capital— for the Aztecs, true to their threats, had defrauded the 
avarice of their conquerors. In vain, under the eye of Cortes 
himself, was the lake carefully searched in the spots indicated 
by his prisoners. Comparatively little was found, except a 
great golden sun, which was fished up from a pond in the 
royal palace. The soldiers, "very pensive and grave" at their 
disappointment, demanded that the unhappy Gautemozin sliould 



CONQUEST OP MEXICO. 267 

be tortured to effect a discovery; and Cortes, to his eternal 
infamy, delivered his royal victim into their hands. 

The brave prince, with inflexible fortitude, withstood the 
cruelties of his tormentors, and when his companion in suffer- 
ing, the cacique of Tacuba, groaned aloud, said, coldly, "Do 
you think, then, that I am taking my pleasure in my bath?" 
Nothing was extorted by this inhuman process except the con- 
fession that the treasures were buried in the salt floods of the 
lake. The disappointed soldiery again accused their general 
of defrauding them of the fruits of their victory ; and the white 
walls of his palace were covered "every morning with libels 
against him, either in prose or verse:" In this war of pasquin- 
ades, "which every day grew more indecent," Cortes, who 
piqued himself on his poetical vein, did not hesitate eagerly 
to engage in person. 

As if by general consent, the supremacy of the victors was 
now acknowledged, far and near, by the provinces late tribu- 
tary to their foes; the emissaries of Cortes penetrated to the 
waters of the Pacific, and his heart swelled high at the thought 
of new and unbounded conquests among the precious isles of 
the Indies. 

A dangerous insurrection in Panuco was suppressed with 
great vigor and ferocity by Sandoval, no less than four hundred 
chiefs being consigned to the gallows or the stake. "By which 
means," says Cortes, " God be praised, the province was restored 
to tranquillity." Throughout all New Spain, the Indians, ex- 
cept the Tlascalans, were reduced to a state of actual slavery, 
similar to that established in the West India Islands. 

The rebuilding of the capital was commenced in a style of 
great permanence and splendor, and, under the toiling hands 
of a countless multitude of natives, it rose from its ruins with 
almost unheard-of rapidity. In less than four years, a great 
city, of European construction, with palaces, cathedrals, and 
fortresses, occupied the exact site of the ancient capital of 
Anahuac. 

Since his very first embarkation to the termination of the 



268 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

conquest, Cortes had not received a single intimation from the 
Spanish government of its approbation or disapproval of his 
wonderful career. This was partly occasioned by the rarity 
and difficulty of communication, and partly by the dilatory and 
indecisive policy of the court. A few months after his grand 
success, however, a commissioner, appointed through the malice 
of Fonseca, arrived at Vera Cruz, with full power to examine 
his doings, and, if advisable, to seize his property and person. 
By a mixture of force and bribery, however, this person was 
soon induced to reembark, without having effected any serious 
annoyance. 

In July, 1522, Charles 'V., after a long absence, returned 
to his Spanish dominions, and his attention was immediately 
engaged by clamorous accusations and vehement vindications 
of the Conqueror. He referred the matter to a commission of 
the highest authority, which, after a patient hearing of all 
parties, decided that the honor of Spain was concerned in the 
most unqualified acknowledgment of such brilliant services. 
Almost every point was decided in favor of Cortes. He was 
appointed governor, captain-general, and judge of all New 
Spain, with almost complete authority, both military and civil 
(October, 1522). His officers also received high honors and 
rewards ; and the soldiers were made happy by liberal, though 
ill-fulfilled promises. Fonseca and Velasquez met with a sig- 
nal rebuff and disappointment; and both of these inveterate 
enemies of Cortes died not long after, their deaths being has- 
tened by chagrin and vexation. 

On receipt of these welcome tidings, Cortes, ever given to 
splendor and display, launched forth into an almost regal 
magnificence of state and attendance. His household is de- 
scribed by a contemporary as "consistinge of many stewards 
and officers of his house, morris dancers, chamberlaines, dore 
keepers, cheefe bankers, or exchaungers of mony, and the rest, 
fitly agreeing with a great king. Whethersoeuer Cortes goeth, 
hee bringcth foure kinges with him, to whom he hath given 
horses, the magistrates of the citty, and soldiers for execution 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 269 

of lustice goinge before wdth maces, and as Lee passetli bye, 
all that meete bim cast tliemselues flat vppon tbe grounde, 
after tbe aimcient manner." 

Witb bis accustomed energy, be took tbe most vigorous 
measures for tbe regulation and permanent settlement of bis 
vast acquisitions. Spanisb colonies were rapidly planted, even 
in tbe remote regions of California, and great and successful 
temptations to immigration were beld fortb. For tbe better 
population of bis realms, be enjoined, under penalty of for- 
feiture, tbat every married man sbould bring bis wife, and for 
tbe same purpose, ("as well as for tbe security of tbe con- 
sciences of sucb,") all bacbelors, under stringent liabilities, 
were enjoined fortbwitb to marry. "Tbe general," says Mr. 
Prescott, "seems to bave considered celibacy as too great a 
luxury for a young country." A somewbat disagreeable appli- 
cation of bis rule soon befell tbe legislator, in tbe unexpected 
arrival of bis own wife. Dona Catalina — wbom be received 
witb all proper respect, but wbose speedy demise gave occa- 
sion to many slanderous insinuations among bis enemies. 

True to bis principles, sucb as tbey were, be made strenu- 
ous and (considering tbe motive) laudable exertions for tbe 
conversion of tbe natives. Twelve friars of tbe Franciscan 
order — an order eminent for its religious zeal, undaunted cour- 
age, and unwearied perseverance — arrived in 1524, and were 
received witb universal rejoicing and exultation. Tbey set to 
work fortbwitb, witb sucb vigor and success tbat, in less tban 
twenty years, according to tbeir boast, nine millions of Indian 
converts bad been gathered into the bosom of tbe church. 



270 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

GREAT ACQUISITIONS TO THE CROWN OF SPAIN TERRIBLE MARCH OF 

CORTES TO HONDURAS MURDER OF GAUTEMOZIN USURPATION 

AT MEXICO RETURN OF CORTES VEXATIOUS COMMISSION 

CORTES EMBARKS FOR SPAIN HONORS BESTOWED ON 

HIM HIS RETURN TO MEXICO. 

In developing the resources of the country, especially its 
agricultural wealth, Cortes displayed the qualities of a wise 
and sagacious legislator; and New Spain, ere long, became 
the choicest colonial possession of the Spanish crown. With- 
in three years from the fall of Mexico, he had brought under 
the dominion of Castile an extent of country, as he claimed, 
measuring four hundred leagues on the Pacific coast, and five 
hundred on the Atlantic : and the numerous nations of which 
it was composed were, by his iron energy and unfailing policy, 
tranquilly settled in obedience to their European masters. 

Discovery and conquest still engaged his ardent attention. 
He made constant efforts to discover the strait, so long sup- 
posed to connect the Atlantic with the Indian ocean. He fit- 
ted out an expedition, under Alvarado, which resulted in the 
conquest of the rich province of Guatemala. Another, which 
he dispatched to Honduras, imder Olid, was the cause of severe 
misfortune, as well to himself as to the interests of the coun- 
try at large. That ambitious ofiicer, after planting a colony 
in the new territory, had thrown off his allegiance, and set up 
a small independent government of his own. 

The haughty governor, on learning this notable defection, 
"showed apparent tokens of the perturbation of his minde, by 
ye vehement swelling of ye veines of his throate and nostrils." 
He took the rash and hazardous resolution to march overland 
in person to the new settlement, exploring the country by the 
way, and overcoming all opposition. In October, 1524, with 
a hundred cavalry, and three or four thousand Indians, he set 
forth upon the most terrible march which modern history has 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 271 

recorded. For many montiis, with his famishing followers, he 
struggled through the wilderness, entangled in swamps, toiling 
over barren mountains, and bridging almost innumerable 
rivers. On one occasion he was compelled to construct a float- 
ing bridge, composed of a thousand pieces of timber, each 
sixty feet in length. 

On this expedition, Cortes, by the murder of his captive, 
the hapless Gautemozin, loaded his name with eternal infamy. 
That unhappy sovereign, whom, with an unsleeping jealousy, 
he always carried on his journeys, was made the victim of a 
false and frivolous accusation of a conspiracy. His conqueror, 
eao'er to rid himself of one who was a constant source of anx- 

O 

iety, after the mere mockery of an investigation, ordered his 
immediate execution. The ill-fated prince, with his habitual 
composure, said, at the fatal tree: "Malinche! here your false 
words and promises have ended— in my death. I should have 
fallen by my own hand, in my city of Mexico, rather than have 
trusted myself to you. Why do you unjustly take my life? 
May God demand of you this innocent blood." His cousin, 
the chief of Tacuba, who shared his fate, said, simply, with 
touching loyalty, "I am happy to die by the side of my true 
sovereign." They were hanged, with other caciques, from the 
branches of a huge Ceiba-tree; "and thus," says honest Diaz, 
who was present, "ended the lives of these two great men, 
and I must say, like good Christians, and, for Indians, most 
piously. * * * And I also declare, that they suffered 
their deaths most undeservingly, and so it appeared to us all, 
among whom there was but one opinion upon the subject — 
that it was a most unjust and cruel sentence." 

So died the last of the Aztecs — for with the death of this 
brave defender of his country ends their national history. 
No one arose after him to rescue his toiling countrymen from 
the yoke of slavery, or to lifl an arm against the triumphant 
invader. But Nemesis, in the shape of an avenging con- 
science, was already busy with his destroyer, of whom one of 
his own companions remarks, "thenceforth, nothing prospered 



272 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

with him, and it was ascribed to the curses he was loaded 
with." After the death of his victim, he became, says our 
old chronicler, "very ill-tempered and sad," and "was so dis- 
tracted with these thoughts, that he could not rest in bis bed 
at night, and would get up in the dark to walk ahowt as a 
relief from his anxieties." While thus restlessly pacing by 
night in one of the Indian temples, he fell from a considerable 
height, and received severe injuries — which, however, with his 
wonted endurance, he kept to himself, acting as his own clii- 
rurgeon, and striving to conceal the circumstance. 

On arriving, after this terrible passage, at the place of his 
destination, Cortes learned that a counter-insurrection had al- 
ready restored his authority, and that the unfortunate Olid 
had been beheaded in the market-place of Naco. Undisma3red 
by his recent sufferings and losses, the indomitable chief, with- 
out delay, commenced fresh enterprises. He made an arduous 
tour of exploration, and was meditating vast schemes of dis- 
covery and conquest, when evil tidings recalled him to Mex- 
ico. The temporary rulers of that province had received a 
vague report that, with his whole army, he had perished in 
the marshes of Chiapas; and with all the insolence of sud- 
denly-acquired authority, had commenced a reign of plunder 
and usurpation. His property had been seized in the name 
of the state, or, more probably, for the use of his self-appointed 
administrators — nor was the Holy Church without her share; 
for, (says Diaz, subsequently,) " a great part of it had been appro- 
priated to the expenses of celebrating his funeral service, and 
to the saying Masses for his soul, and ours, to give credit to 
the report; and these perpetual Masses, which had been so 
purchased out of the property of Cortes upon the supposition 
of his death, and for the good of his soul, were now, that he ■ 
was found to be alive, and no longer in need of them, pur- 
chased by one Juan de Caceres, for the benefit of his own 
soul, whenever he was to die ; so that Cortes was farther off 
from getting back his property than ever." The fictor, having 
solemnly erected a monument to him, " then proclaimed him- 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 278 

self governor and captain-general of New Spain, with the 
sound of kettle-drums and trumpets, and issued out an order 
that all women who had any regard for their souls, and whoso 
husbands had gone with Cortes, should consider them dead in 
law, and marry again forthwith." 

On receipt of these unwelcome tidings, Cortes embarked iu 
the Gulf, but was twice driven back by tempests, and became 
so disheartened and worn out, that all the solicitations of his 
friends were needed to induce him to persevere. It was not 
until June, 1526, after an absence of nearly two years, that 
he reentered Mexico. Ilis journey thither was a perfect tri- 
xmiphal procession; and his enemies, crushed to the earth, 
only owed their lives to his forbearance. 

This triumph was soon overshadowed by the jealousy of 
the court. A thousand slanderous reports filled the ears of 
the emperor. It was insisted that Cortes (who had always 
been fanatically loyal) intended to throw off the royal author- 
ity. A commissioner was sent out to investigate the affairs 
of the province. He died soon after his arrival, and his suc- 
cessor speedily followed him to the grave. Slander, the most 
unfounded, ascribed their end to Cortes; and a most ridicu- 
lous story was trumped up that he had attempted to take off 
the new comers and their suite with a treat of custards and 
cheese-cakes. These dainties, says our old chronicler, refuting 
the story, " were so much approved of, and some of the com- 
pany eat of them in such quantities, that they made them sick ; 
but those who eat of them in moderation were not at all af- 
fected. However, this prior, Fray Tomas Ortiz, asserted that 
they had been poisoned with arsenic, and tliat he had not 
eaten of them from a suspicion that they were so; but others 
who were present declared that he stuffed himself heartily with 
them, and said that they were the best he had ever tasted." 

The third commissioner, a personal enemy of Cortes, gave 

him such annoyance, that he resolved to return to Spain, and 

plead his cause in person. He took with him a vast amount 

of treasure and jewels, with many natural curiosities, and a 

18 



274 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

nmnber of native jugglers, as a part of his present for the 
Pope. ("These Indians," we are afterwards told, "danced 
before his Holiness and the cardinals, who expressed their high 
satisfaction at their performances." A plenteous shower of 
absolutions rewarded this "delicate attention" to the Church!) 
In May, 1528, he arrived at the little port of Palos, the same 
whence Columbus had departed thirty-six years before, on the 
eventful voyage which terminated in the discovery of a world. 
Here, at the memorable convent of La Rabida, the Con- 
queror of Mexico, his task achieved, fell in with Francisco 
Pizarro, the destined conqueror of Peru, then busy in pro- 
viding means for his gigantic undertaking. The meeting of 
these famous men, in the ancient home of the great discoverer, 
has been charmingly described by a distinguished poet: 

"Much of a Southern Sea they spake, 
And of that glorious City won 
Near the setting of the Sun, 

Throned in a silver lake ; 
Of Seven Kings in chains of gold,* 
And deeds of death by tongue untold. 
Deeds such as breathed in secret there 
Had shaken the Confession Chair!" 

Here too, at the age of thirty-one, died Sandoval, next to 
Cortes undoubtedly the greatest captain in New Spain. His 
life, like that of his chief, had been one of constant excitement, 
of wonderful valor and enterprise, as well as of repeated cruelty 
and carnage. Leaving this, the most faithful and devoted of 
his followers, in the lonely cemetery of Rabida, Cortes set out 
for Toledo, where the court then lay. His journey, like that 
of Columbus, was a continued triumph. The whispers of 
envy were instantly silenced before the presence of the man 
who, with his unaided hand, had added such brilliant jewels 

* By a royal edict, Cortes was authorized to bear in his coat of arms the 
heads of Seven Princes, who had fallen before his arms — being those of 
Montezuma, Gautemozin, and the princes of Tezcuco, Iztap.alapan, Cujoacan, 
Tacuba, and Matalzingo. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. S75 

to the Spanish crown. He received the title of "Marquess of 
Oaxarca," with an immense grant of land and more than twenty 
thousand slaves, in that beautiful portion of Mexico. A mai'- 
riage into one of the noblest families in Spain was another 
reward of his achievements and a sufficient refutation of the 
slanders which had attended the death of his first wife. 

But royal jealousy, as in the case of Columbus, proved too 
strong to admit his receiving the full requital of his services. 
He could not procure a reinstatement in his office of governor, 
and was compelled to content himself with that of captain- 
general — the court being still willing to use his genius and 
valor in effecting further conquests. He was also empowered 
to make fresh discoveries and to found colonies in the southern 
ocean. With these partial acknowledgments of his merits, in 
the spring of 1530, he reembarked for Mexico. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ENTERPRISE OF CORTES HIS SECOND RETURN TO SPAIN CAMPAIGN 

AGAINST ALGIERS DISAPPOINTMENTS AT COURT HIS DEATH 

HIS CHARACTER FATE OF THE CONQUERORS. 

The late governor was received in the capital which he de- 
stroyed and built, with such enthusiasm, (both by the Spanish 
and Indian population) as to prove that his administration had 
been, on the whole, both just and popular; but the jealous 
annoyance of the new government finally caused him to retire, 
and take up his abode in his beautiful city of Cuernavaca. 
Here he devoted himself to the improvement of his extensive 
estates and to the fitting out of expeditions of discovery. In 
one of these, the peninsula of California was discovered; and 
Cortes himself, while making fresh exploration in the same 
region, encountered the greatest hardships and perils, but 
without any adequate result. In 1539, he dispatched three 
vessels, under Ulloa, which passed through the entire length 



276 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of the Gulf, and suvvovod the wostorn coast of tlio roniusnla. 
The commander, who, with two of his vessels, continued to 
sti\ud northward, was never aftcrwai'ds heard from. These 
e^qicditions cost Cortes an immense sum of money, no por- 
tion of which he ever regained from his discoveries or from the 
gratitude of the court. Extensive additions, however, had been 
made to geographical knowledge. 

To obtain reimbursement for these heavy expenditures, and 
to assert his interests in claims conflicting w-ith those of the 
provincial government, Cortes, in 1540, once more betook him- 
self to Spain. lie was received with distinguished honors, but 
advanced little in his suit; and in the following year joined, 
as a volunteer, in the expedition undertaken by Charles Y. 
against Algiers. The navy was scattered by a tempest, and 
the vessel of Cortes was wrecked on the co;^t. "With his son, 
he escaped by swimming, but lost from his person a set of em- 
eralds, of inestimable value — the spoils of the unfortunate 
Ilouse of Montezuma. The attempt }>roved disastrous, and a 
council of war decided to break up the siege — Cortes in vain 
remonstrating, and longing for the veterans who had stood by 
him at the taking of Mexico. 

Keturned to Castile, he spent several years more in fruitlessly 
urging his claims on an ungrateful court. He vainly besought 
the emperor to "order the council of the Indies, with the other 
tribunals which had cognizance of his suits, to come to a deci- 
sion; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but 
ought rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at 
home and settle his account with heaven, occupied with the 
concerns of his soul, rather thaii with his substjince." 

Seeing his etforts useless, he set forth on his return to Mex- 
ico; but was taken with a mortal illness on his Avay, at Seville. 
Perceiving his end at hand, he executed his will, in which 
there appears a singular scruple of conscience ii\ the author of 
scenes like those enacted by the Conqueror of Mexico. It had 
long been questionable, he averred, w^hether Indians could l>e 
rightfulh' held in slavery, and "since this point has not yet 



COXQL'EST OF MEXICO. 277 

been determined," he proceeds, "1 enjoin it on my son Martin 
and his heirs that they spare no pains to come to an exact 
knowledge of the truth; as a matter which deeply concerns 
the conscience of each of them, no less than mine." Having 
confessed himself and received the sacrament, he expired with 
much composure, on the 2d of December, 1547, being in his 
sixty-third year. His remains have performed a pilgrimage as 
curious and distant as those of Columbus, but finally enjoyed 
a less honorable repose. It was found necessary, in 1823, pri- 
vately to remove them from the vault of a chapel in Mexico, 
to secure them from the senseless rage of a mob whose hatred 
of Spanish tyranny extended beyond the grave. 

The character of this extraordinary man may best be read 
in his life, and in the traits of marked personal peculiarity 
which continually come to light in his own words, and the 
records of all who knew him. The strange but true antitheses 
of his disposition have been strikingly presented by the ele- 
gant Historian of the Conquest: "He was avaricious, yet lib- 
eral ; bold to desperation, yet cautious and calculating in his 
plans; magnanimous, yet very cunning; courteous and affable 
in his deportment, yet inexorably stern; lax in his notions of 
morality, yet (not uncommon) a sad bigot. The great feature 
in his character was constancy of purpose; a constancy not to 
be daunted by danger, nor baffled by disappointment, nor 
wearied out Vjy impediments and delays." 

That he was a hero, is his slightest praise; for all the en- 
durance, hardihood, and desperate valor which he constantly 
exhibited, and which have never been surpassed, are obscured 
by the contemplation of the miseries which he inflicted and 
the cruelties by which he attained his ends. His truer glory 
consists in the legislative talent which he displayed; and in 
the wonderful facility with which, from the empire which he 
so rudely dashed in pieces, he formed another, deficient in the 
elements of true happiness, Vjut perhaps superior to that which 
had preceded it. Hardly any where, except in Mexico, have 
the European and the Indian races so coalesced as to form a 



278 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

State; and the result is mainly due to the wise policy of Cortes, 
who saw that conversion rather than extermination was the 
true way of possessing the wealth of Mexico. A people whom 
he subdued ferociously, he governed sagaciously, and his name 
is not burdened with greater odium than ought, unfortunately, 
to attach to the majority of European founders of states in 
America. 

For a description of his person and deportment, there can 
be no better authority than the gossiping old narrator, who 
served with him throughout, and who was ever a keen observer 
of men and manners. "He was of a good stature and strong- 
built, of a rather pale complexion and serious countenance. 
His features rather small ; his eyes mild and grave. His beard 
was black, thin, and scanty; his hair in the same manner. 
His breast and shoulders were broad, his body very thin. He 
was very well-limbed, and his legs rather bowed ; an excellent 
horseman, and dexterous in the use of arms. He also had the 
heart and mind, which is tlie princiixd part of the business. * * * 

" He was very affable with all his captains and soldiers, espe- 
cially those who had accompanied him in his first expedition 
from Cuba. He was a Latinist, and, as I have been told, a bach- 
elor of laws. He was also something of a poet and a very good 
rhetorician; very devout to our Holy Virgin, and his patrons 
— St. Peter, St. Jago, and St. John the Baptist in particular — • 
and charitable to the poor. When he swore, he used to say, ' By 
my conscience!' and when he was angry with any of us, his 
friends, he would say, 'Oh! may you repent it!' When he 
was very angry, the veins in his throat and forehead used to 
swell; and when in great wrath, he would not utter a syllable 
to any one. He was very patient under insults and injuries; 
for some of the soldiers were at times very rude and abusive 
with him; but he never resented their conduct, although he 
had often good reason to do so. In such cases, he used only 
to say, 'Be silent,' or, 'Go away, in God's name, and take 
care not to repeat this conduct, or I will have you punished.' 
He was very determined and headstrong in all business of war. 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 279 

not attending to any remonstrances on account of danger. * * 
Where we had to erect a fortress, Cortes was the hardest 
laborer in the trenches; when we were going into battle, he 
was as forward as any. ******* 

"In his early life he was very liberal, but grew close latterly; 
some of his servants complaining that he did not pay them as 
he ought: and I have also to observe that in his latter under- 
takings he never succeeded. Perhaps such was the will of 
Heaven, his reward being reserved for another place; for he 
was a good cavalier, and very devout to the Holy Virgin, and 
also to St. Paul, and other Holy Saints. God pardon him his 
sins, and me mine ! and give me a good end, which is better 
than all conquests and victories over Indians." 

The same delightful old chronicler, whom we have so often 
quoted, gives a brief account of the fortunes of each of his 
former companions, in a style the most quaint, curt, and sug- 
gestive that can be imagined. Most of his biographies consist 
of a single sentence — many of only three or four words. 
Great numbers are recorded as having been sacrificed and 
"devoured" by the enemy — others slain in battle — others, in 
their old age, turned friars and hermits, distinguished by their 
austerities — and (sad to relate) the story of others is too often 
comprised in the ominous sentence, "who afterwards was 
hanged," — mostly for rape, murder, or sedition! Of one, who 
died on the road, he says, "we accordingly buried him, and 
placed a cross on his grave. We found in his pocket a purse, 
containing a quantity of dice, and a memorandum of his fam- 
ily and effects, in Teneriflfe. Eest his soul ! Avien^ 

When he wrote, nearly all who had sailed in the original 
armament of Cortes were dead, — "concerning their tombs and 
monuments," he dolefully proceeds, "I tell you that their 
tombs are the maws of cannibal Indians, who devoured their 
limbs, and of tygers, serpents, and birds of prey, which feasted 
on their mangled bodies. Such were their sepulchres, and 
such their monuments! but to me, it appears, that the names 
of those ought to be written in letters of gold, who died so 



280 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

cruel a death, for the service of God and his Majesty, to give 
light to those who sat in darkness, and to procure wealth, vshich 
all men desired 

"At this moment," he continues, "there only remain alive 
five of the companions of Cortes, and we are very old, and 
bowed down with infirmities, and very poor, and with a heavy 
charge of sons to provide for, and of daughters to marry off, 
and grandchildren to maintain, and little rent to do it withal ! 
and thus we pass our lives in pain, in labor, and in sorrow," 

Such was the end of the men who seized the golden realms 
of Mexico, and shared the plunder of the generous Monte- 
zuma — and such is generally the end of those whose riches 
are acquired by rapine, whose treasurer is the sword, and 
whose steward the dice-box. 

"I cannot tell," says an ancient moralizer, "how it commeth 
to passe, except by the iust iudgement of God, that of so much 
gold and precious stones as haue been gotten in the Antiles 
by so many Spaniards, little or none remaineth, but the most 
part is spent and consumed, and no good thing done^ 



FERNANDO MAGELLAN, 

THE GREAT CIllCUMNAVIGATOR. 



DISPUTES OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL FERNANDO MAGELLAN HIS VOY- 
AGE TO THE SOUTHWARD THE PATAGONIANS DISCOVERY OF THE 

STRAIT OF BIAGELLAN VOYAGE TO THE PHILIPPINE ISLES DEATH 

OF THE COBIMANDER CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 

Immediately after tlie memorable voyage of Columbus, 
Ms Holiness, the Pope Alexander VI,, bad issued a bull, di- 
viding the world like an apple, and bestowing the halves on 
his faithful adherents, the kings of Spain and Portugal— with 
the apostolic privilege of converting the inhabitants and seizing 
their territories. Despite this pious and equitable arrangement, 
a strong jealousy existed between the favored courts, each nat- 
urally desiring to get possession of the larger share. An es- 
pecial bone of contention was the ownership of the Moluccas 
or Spice islands, immemorially celebrated for their aromatic 
products, but as yet not monopolized by either of the rival 
powers. The hope of finding a westerly passage to the fragrant 
seas of India was almost relinquished, when a new and bril- 
liant adventurer started up. 

Fernando Magalhaens, or Magellan, was a Portuguese by 
birth, and had served in India for five years under the famous 
Albuquerque. He had distinguished himself at the siege of 
Malacca, but, disappointed in his hopes of preferment, had 
finally carried liis services to the court of Spain. Charles Y. 
and his minister, the great Cardinal Ximenes, pleased with his 
assertion of the right of Spain to the contested archipelago, 
listened \\illingly to his j^roposals for a fresh attempt to reach 



282 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

it from tlie westward. Five small vessels and two hundred 
and tliirty men were accordingly placed under his command ; 
and on the 20th of September, 1519, he set sail from San Lu- 
car, on the most remarkable voyage since the first expedition 
of Columbus. 

He first touched upon the shore of Brazil, along which he 
coasted to nearly the fiftieth degree of south latitude. Here 
lie found a convenient harbor, which he named Port St. Julian, 
and in which he resolved to pass the winter (April, 1520). 
This season (which in those latitudes extends from May to 
September) proved very severe, and great discontent arose 
among the crews. A formidable sedition broke out, which he 
suppressed with much promptness, courage and ferocity. 
Mendoza, one of his captains, the chief ringleader, was stabbed 
by his orders, under pretence of a conference. Another was 
publicly hanged, and a third set on shore to perish. 

For two months, no natives were seen on this desolate coast ; 
but one day a man of gigantic stature, almost naked, appeared 
on the beach, dancing violently, and throwing dust upon his 
head, in token of amity. He was brought on board, wonder- 
ing at all he saw. "He was so tall," says old Pigafetta, the 
amusing chronicler of the voyage, "that our heads scarcely 
came up to his waist, and his voice was like that of a bull." 
On seeing the reflection of his face in a looking-glass, he started 
back in alarm, with such force as to throw down four Spaniards, 
who stood behind him. Numbers of his tribe soon appeared 
on the shore, " marvelling vastly to see such large ships and such 
little men." They are described as "a barbarous people, vn- 
armed, onely couered with skinnes, a runagate people, withoute 
any ceitaine place of abode, lawlesse, of a large stature, and 
are called Putagones."* One of them learned to repeat the 
Lord's prayer, and was baptized by the name of Juan Gigante 
(Jack Giant). 

With the customary treachery of discoverers, Magellan en- 

* Tliis word, in Spanish, signifies, "clumsy-lioofed," and was bestowed on 
account of their uncouth foot-gear, made of the hide of the Guanaco. 



FEKN'Ain)0 MAGELLAN. 283 

trapped two of these simple people, and by a cunning artifice 
put them in fetters, while they roared in vain for aid to their 
god Setebos.* A grave modern author can hardly credit the 
noise they are said to have made, but admits that "if he then 
roared out like a bull, we need not wonder, since the provoca- 
tion and the danger were sufficient to make him exert every 
faculty both of body and mind." A perfidious stratagem to 
gain possession of some of the women (for the purpose of prop- 
agating the breed of giants) was luckily defeated, with the loss 
of one of the assailants. 

As the spring came on, the Spaniards weighed anchor and 
stood southward, and in the latter part of October, Magellan, 
to his great joy, beheld an opening to the westward through 
this iron-bound coast. It was the famous strait which still 
bears his name ; and a strong current flowing into it inspired 
the most sanguine hope of a free channel. But the less adven- 
turous spirits under his command shrank from attempting a 
passage which might lead them into unheard-of perils. A 
strong remonstrance was made against proceeding; but the 
daring commander avowed his intention to sail on, even if 
his crews were reduced to eat the hides from the ship's rig- 
ging — an anticipation of famine, which was soon literally ful- 
filled. Reminding his men of the end of the late mutineers, 
and assuring them that such should be their own fate, if they 
uttered a murmur, the fierce and dauntless discoverer, with 
three ships, boldly entered the strait. 

For thirty-seven days the little squadron was involved in 
the perils of that intricate navigation, which, even now, is not 
without its terrors to the boldest; and the praises which old 
John Davis lavishes on the subsequent achievements of 
Drake, (and himself) apply, with tenfold force, to the original 
explorer. 

"And being without reliefe of ancorage, was inforced to 
follow his course in the hell darke nights & in all the fury of 
tempestious stormes. I am the bolder," adds the honest old 

* See Shakspeare'a "Tempest." 



28-i NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

voyager, "to make this particuler relation in the praise of his 
perfect constancy and magnanemitye of spirite, because I haue 
thrise passed the same straights, and haue felt the most bitter 
and mercyles fury thereof" 

In the frequent tempests to which, in the course of this re- 
markable voyage, the adventurers were exposed, they appear 
to have derived a superstitious comfort from the occasional 
presence of a corposant* 

"During these great storms," says a Spanish historian, "they 
said that St. Elmo appeared at the topmasts with a lighted 
candle, and sometimes with two, upon which the people shed 
tears of joy, receiving great consolation, and saluted him ac- 
cording to the custom of mariners. He remained visible for 
a quarter of an hour, and then disappeared luith a great flash 
of liijldning^ ivlnch blinded all the peopled This somewhat 
equivocal symptom does not appear to have started any doubts 
of the celestial nature of the appearance, or to have interfused 
any unpleasant suggestions that it might be of decidedly 
adverse origin. 

On the 28th of November, the open sea was seen stretching 
before them, and Magellan, bursting into tears of joy, ordered 
a public thanksgiving to be made throughout the squadron, 
lie now stood northward to gain a milder climate, and then 
westward, for nearly four months, wafted along by such gentle 
and favorable breezes, that the great ocean he was traversing, 
received the alluring title of the "The Pacific." The worst 
anticipations of famine, however, were realized. The crews 
were compelled to eat the hides from the rigging, steeped in 
salt-water, and those who, from scurvy of the gums, were un- 
able to gnaw the tough and repulsive morsels, perished from 
actual starvation. Only two islands were passed, and those 
so lonely and deserted, that he bestowed on them the name of 
Desventadaras, or Unhappy. It was not until the 16th of 

* Corpo Sanfo, or Holy Body — an electrical phenomenon, which, in certain 
latitudes and in stormy weatlier, occasionally appears on the yards or masts of 
vessels, in the form of a ball of fire. 



FERNANDO MAGELLAN, 285 

March, 1521, that he arrived at the Philippine Isles, twenty of 
his men having died, and the remainder being in a miserable 
state of suffering and exhaustion. 

After touching at several islands, on the oth of April he 
arrived at the harbor of Zebu, which he entered firing a grand 
salute, with all the state and pomp which his shattered squad- 
ron' could assume. With the sovereign of this island he soon 
formed a promising alliance, and with the usual zeal for prose- 
Ijtism, in a few days had baptized him and half his people. 
An opportune miracle or so hastened the good work, and in a 
fortnight from his arrival, the zealous commander had brought 
all Zebu and its neighborhood within the pale of the Church 
— except one unconvincible village, which, in terrorem^ he 
burned to the ground, erecting a cross amid its ashes. 

All this triumph and success was, by an unprecedented 
piece of rashness, suddenly converted into ruin and defeat. 
The chief of Matan, a neighboring island, was an enemy to 
the king of Zebu, and, on the demand of Magellan, had re- 
fused to pay tribute or allegiance to the Spanish emperor. 
That commander, determined to strike a fatal blow at any op- 
position, resolved, in spite of all remonstrance, on an immedi- 
ate attack, "With only forty-nine Spaniards, clad in complete 
armor, he landed on the island, and assailed a force of three 
thousand of the people of Matan. 

The combat lasted for many hours, the Indians fighting 
bravely, and the Spaniards, despite their courage and the 
superiority of their weapons, falling one by one before the 
overwhelming force of numbers. Magellan had been wounded 
by a poisoned arrow, and his helmet had twice been struck off. 
He fought Avith. desperation, but, his sword-arm being disabled, 
he was finally beaten to the ground, and overwhelmed by a 
shower of lances. Eight of his men perished with him, and 
twenty-two were wounded. The rest regained their boats. 

Here, then, says a contemporary, with a mixture of spite 
and admiration, "the goode Portugall, Magaglianus, ended his 
greedy desire of spices," He perished, the victim of rashness, 



286 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

at a moment when the highest prize of nautical achievement 
yet remaining — the circumnavigation of the globe* — was al- 
ready in his grasp. He was a man of the most undaunted 
courage and the highest skill in his profession, but headstrong 
and unscrupulous in the extreme. His good qualities are evi- 
denced not only by his exploits, but by the affection and 
admiration of his crews, who, despite his severity, and the 
obnoxious circumstance of his being a foreigner, appear to 
have held him in high regard. 

The king of Zebu, who, on his admission into the Church, 
had been christened Don Carlos, (after the Emperor Charles 
V.,) but whose conversion seems to have been of no very radi- 
cal nature, taking advantage of the misfortune of his allies, 
now committed a most treacherous and cruel massacre on a 
number of them whom he had enticed into the palace. Among 
these was the brave Juan Serrano, who had succeeded to the 
command of the squadron. The unfortunate man, wounded 
and fettered on the shore, piteously besought aid or ransom from 
his companions in the ships; but Carvallo, the next in com- 
mand, turned a deaf ear to his request. "Finding all his 
entreaties were vain," says Pigafetta, "he uttered deep im- 
precations, and appealed to the Almighty at the great day of 
judgment to exact account of his soul from Juan Carvallo, his 
fellow-gossip. * * * His cries were, however, disre- 
garded, and we set sail without ever hearing what became 
of him." 

Of the five ships which had sailed on this eventful voyage, 
only one, the Vitoria, a little vessel of sixty tons, succeeded 
in completing the circumnavigation of the globe. After touch- 
ing at many islands, among them the Moluccas, the object of 
the expedition, she arrived at San Lucar, on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, 1522; twenty-one of her crew having died, and the 
rest being worn out by the fatigues of a voyage which had 

* Magc41an, on a former voyage to the East, had reached Mahicca, and 
thus only wanted a few degrees, at his death, of completing the circumnavi- 
gation by voyages in opposite directions. 



FERNANDO MAGELLAN. 287 

lasted more than three years. The adventurous little craft, 
after having traversed nearly fifty thousand miles of ocean, 
was drawn ashore, and remained for many years a monument 
of the most remarkable achievement of the century. Of her 
European crew, only eighteen had survived. "These," con- 
cludes old Pigaffetta, with just and honest exultation, "were 
mariners who surely merited an eternal memory more justly 
than the Argonauts of old. The ship, too, undoubtedly de- 
served far better to be placed among the stars than the ship 
Argo, which from Greece discovered the great sea; for this, 
our wonderful ship, taking her departure from the Straits of 
Gibraltar, and sailing southward through the great ocean 
towards the Antartic Pole, and then turning west, not by 
sailing back, but proceeding constantly forward; so compass- 
ing the globe, until she marvellously regained her native 
country, Spain." 

The honors which, had he survived, would have been due 
to Magellan, fell to the lot of Sebastian del Cano, the com- 
mander of the Vitoria. He was ennobled by the emperor, 
and was permitted to bear for his arms a globe, with the hon- 
orable motto, 

"PRIMUS ME CIRCUMDEDISTI." 

(thou fikst hast encompassed me.) 

To the great surprise of the fortunate adventurer, he dis- 
covered that, in his protracted navigation, he had lost a day in 
his reckoning, arriving, according to his calculation, on the 
fifth of September. This circumstance, which, as a matter of 
course, must befall all who circumnavigate the earth from east 
to west, was, in that day, matter for much perplexing specula- 
tion among the learned and scientific. 



THE CONQUEST OF PERU. 

BY PR AN CISCO PIZARRO. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE COLONY OF PANAJIA ACCOUNT OF FRANCISCO PIZARRO ALMAGRO 

AND LUQUE FIRST VOYAGE OF PIZARRO TERRIBLE LOSS AND 

SUFFERING FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION AND RETURN 

VOYAGE OF ALMAGRO. 

"Oh, could their ancient Incas rise again, 
How would they take up Israel's taunting strain! 
Art thou, too, fallen, Iberia] Do we see 
The robber and tiie murderer weak as we? 
Thou, that Jiast wasted Eartii, and dared despise 
Alike the wrath nnd mercy of tlie skies, 
Thy pomp is in the grave, thy glory laid 
Low in the pits tliine avarice has made. 
We come with joy from our eternal rest 
To see the oppressors in their turn oppressed." 

COWTER. 

Within less than a quarter of a century from its discovery 
by Cabot, the whole eastern coast of the American Continent, 
from Hudson's Bay to Terra del Fuego, had been visited and 
explored by a succession of daring adventurers. All that lav 
to the westward was unknown, until the famous expedition of 
Balboa, in 1513, had proved the existence of a great ocean 
lying beyond the isthmus. The brilliant exploits and melan- 
choly fate of that renowned pioneer, have been already nar- 
rated. The conquest of tBose realms of gold, of which the 
vague and exciting rumors had moved him to such arduous 
undertakings, was reserved for more fortunate, but not more 
vigorous and indefatigable hands. 




yH.1.VCI.s((i r I Z.i H HI). 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 289 

Pedrarias, tlie governor of Castilla del Oro, not long after 
tlie execution of his rival, had transferred his capital from 
Darien, on the Atlantic coast, to a site on the Pacific, called 
Panama, some distance eastward from the present city of that 
name. Yague but continued reports of the existence of a 
wealthy empire on the southern sea were continually reaching 
the new settlement; and in 1521, an expedition was dispatched 
to the southward. But the illness of the commander pre- 
vented him from penetrating any farther than Balboa had 
already done; and for some years no further movement was 
made in that direction. 

At this time, reports of the astonishing successes of Cortes 
began to inflame the minds of his countrymen throughout the 
numerous colonies already founded in the islands or on the 
mainland; and in the rising city of Panama, especially, we 
are told, "were diuers which affected golden discoueries." Of 
all this host of active adventurers, the name most splendid for 
courage, fortitude, and sagacity, and most infamous for cruelty, 
oppression, and perfidy, is that of Francisco Pizarro. 

He was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an officer 
of Cordova, ("The Great Captain,") and was born at Truxillo, 
in Estramadura, about the year 1471. His introduction to 
the world was of no very auspicious character, for (we are 
informed) he was "exposed at the Church dore, and none 
being found that would giue him the breast, hee was nourished 
by sucking a Sow for certaine dales." By a very natural se- 
quence to this piggish nurture, he was brought up to the 
ignoble calling of a swineherd, and never learned even to read 
or write. The forlorn and neglected condition of his youth 
must not be overlooked, in forming a charitable estimate of his 
subsequent career. 

Little is known of his early life; but that he was of a bold 
and self-reliant nature is evident from the fact that he deserted 
his swinish charge, and ran away to Seville, where he em- 
barked to seek his fortune in the New World. In 1510, ho 
sailed from Hispaniola with Ojeda, on his disastrous expcdi- 
19 



290 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tion to Uraba, on the mainland, and was left by that eavalier 
in charge of the perishing colony. It has been already nar- 
rated that he "svas a companion of Balboa, in his memorable 
march to the South Sea, and that, at the command of the 
malignant Pedrarias, he brought that illustrious discoverer in 
chains to Ada for execution. He had also accompanied Mor- 
ales on the expedition of 1515, distinguished by such ferocious 
cruelty and deserved suftering; and, crossing to the Pearl 
islands, had stood by that commander, "when, from the sum- 
mit of a tower, their vanquished host, the cacique of the 
island, had pointed out the long line of coast stretching to the 
golden realms of the Incas. 

The brilliant and profitable exploits of Cortes, who had just 
completed the Conquest of Mexico, borne to the capital of 
the isthmus, excited the emulation of a few daring men, and 
especially of Pizarro, who, after a life passed in constant con- 
tention with fortune, now found himself, at the age of fifty, pos- 
sessed of only a small estate in the neighborhood of Panama. 
Diego de Almagro, like himself, a foundling, and a battered 
soldier of fortune, entered warmly into his plans for fresh dis- 
covery and conquest; and Hernando de Luque, a priest of 
great enterprise, and ambitious of ecclesiastical preferment, 
joined them in the resolve to attempt some signal enterprise. 
The latter was to furnish the chief share of the necessary 
funds, (acting as agent for a wealthy colonist, named Espinosa,) 
and Pizarro was to have chief command of the expedition. 
Thus did three obscure individuals, in a village just rescued 
from the wilderness, undertake the conquest of distant and 
unknowi\ realms — of whose very existence their only author- 
ity was the vague report that, for to the southward, was a 
mighty kingdom, abounding in gold. 

Two small vessels were procured, and one of them (built by 
Balboa) was soon in readiness for sea; and from the needy 
crew of desperate adventurers which haunted the new capital, 
an hundred were readily enlisted for the enterprise. With 
these, in the middle of November, 1524, Pizarro set sail, leav- 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 291 

ing Almagro to follow in the second vessel, as soon as it could 
be fitted out. Crossing the Gulf of St. Michel, he steered 
southward, and, rounding the Puerto de Pinas, entered the 
river Biru. After an unsuccessful and harassing attempt to 
explore the marshy region through which it flows, the voy- 
agers again weighed anchor and stood southward. 

It was the rainy season, and they soon encountered a series 
of tempests and thunder-storms, from which they barely es- 
caped with life, exhausted and half famished. Returning to 
the shore, they found it to consist of vast swamps and intri- 
cate forests, through which they vainly sought a passage to 
the interior. Utterly disheartened, the majority clamored 
loudly for return. But Pizarro could not bear to relinquish 
the scheme in which he had embarked his all, and which, to 
his sagacious eye, promised such splendid results. He deter- 
mined to remain on shore, with a portion of his command, 
and to dispatch the vessel home for supplies. 

After her departure, the condition of the little company left 
in this desolate region was forlorn in the extreme. Famine 
and exposure soon put an end to nearly half their number; 
but the indefatigable commander, with the remainder, forced 
his way into the country, where the distant glimmering of a 
light afforded a proof of habitation. An Indian village was 
discovered, and the scanty supply of maize, here obtained, gave 
them a further respite from starvation. The inhabitants wore 
ornaments of gold, and confirmed the accounts of a great and 
wealthy empire lying in the south. 

At length the vessel, after a voyage distinguished by great 
suffering and privation, made her return with supplies — but 
the crew were hardly able to recognize the remnant of their 
companions in the famine-wasted wretches that hastened to the 
shore. They rtfembarked, and joyfully leaving this "Port qf 
Famine," held on their intended course. On landing again, 
Pizarro, with a small party, explored the interior, where he 
found an Indian village, deserted by the alarmed inhabitants, 
with a supply of food and considerable gold. Human flesh 



292 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

was cooking before the fires, and the Spaniards, overcome witk 
horror and disgust, retreated to their ship. At a point which 
he named Punta Quemada, Pizarro again went on shore, and 
took possession of a fortified Indian village, from which the 
inhabitants had fled. Here he determined, for the present, to 
take up his quarters, and to dispatch the vessel to Panama for 
repairs. 

Before she sailed, however, the insecurity of his position 
became manifest; the Indians, assembling from all sides, at- 
tacked the intruders with great fury; five of the Spaniards 
were killed and a great number were wounded; and it was 
evidently impracticable, with a diminished force, to retain the 
desired post. All, therefore, embarked, and the vessel was 
headed northward. She made a favorable run toward Panama, 
and Pizarro, with most of his company, disembarking at Chi- 
cama a little before they reached it, awaited with anxiety the 
result of an application to Pedrarias. 

Almagro, whose departure had been grievously delayed, had 
finally set sail, with sixty or seventy companions, and pursuing 
the same track as Pizarro, had successively touched upon vari- 
ous points where the notching of trees indicated the visits of 
his consort. At Quemada, he had, like the latter, a sharp en- 
gagement with the savages, and lost an eye in the encounter. 
Undaunted by this misfortune, he pushed on, and, touching at 
various places, and plundering considerable gold, reached the 
mouth of the river San Juan, about 4° north latitude. Here 
the construction of the villages and the extent of cultivation 
gave strong indications of approach to civilization. At every 
step, fresh accounts reached him of the southern empire ; but 
finding nothing of his consort, he bore northward, and finally 
rejoined him at his quarters in Chicama. Both, elated by 
their prospects, and unterrified by their misfortunes, pledged 
themselves to each other to die rather than to relinquish their 
undertaking. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 293 



CHAPTER II. 

MEANNESS OF PEDRARIAS^-CONTRACT OF PIZARRO, ALMAGRO, AND 

LUQUE — SECOND VOYAGE OF PIZARRO AND ALMAGRO RUIZ CROSSES 

THE LINE — SUFFERINGS OF PIZARRO AND HIS MEN DISCOVERY 

OF TACAMEZ FIGHT WITH THE INDIANS RETURN OF 

ALMAGRO THE ISLAND OF GALLO DARING RESO- 
LUTION OF PIZARRO AND TWELVE COMPANIONS. 

But Almagro, on repairing to Panama, found the governor 
obstinately opposed to any further persistance in an enterprise 
attended with such loss and disaster. Though Pedrarias had 
lost nothing himself, he would neither assist the project, nor 
relinquish his own claims upon its possible profits without a 
handsome bribe, wrung from the exhausted coffers of the con- 
federates. A curious scene of altercation, detailed at much 
length by one who was present, ensued, 

" ' What more will you give me?' " demanded the avaricious 
governor, unsatisfied with a release from large indebtedness. 

"Almagro, much chagrined, said, 'I will give three hundred 
pesos^ though I swear by God I have not so much money in 
the world ; but I must borrow it to be rid of such an incubus.' 

"'You must give me two thousand.' 

" ' Five hundred is the most I will offer.' 

'"You must pay me more than a thousand.' 

" ' A thousand pesos then,' cried the captain, in a rage, 'I will 
give you, though I do not own them ; but I will find sufficient 
security for their future payment.'" 

For such a paltry consideration ($12,000) did the mean-spir- 
ited governor relinquish his share of the wealth of Peru ; while 
Almagro, keener-sighted, doubtless rejoiced in having got rid 
of him so easily. He was appointed as equal in command to 
Pizarro in the projected voyage — a circumstance which secretly 
preyed upon the jealous heart of that commander. 

" And this slight discontent, men say, 
Cost blood upon another day." 



294 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

With all the appearance of concord, however, the three con- 
federates met in Panama, and with much form and solemnity 
executed that memorable contract for the spoliation and divi- 
sion of the unknown realms and treasures of the south. " In 
the name of the most holy Trinity," commenced this singular 
document, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three distinct per- 
sons, and one only true God, and of the most holy Virgin our 
Lad}', we form this partnership." Neither Pizarro nor Alma- 
gro could write, and their names, therefore, were subscribed 
by the hands of the witnesses; while, the more strongly to bind 
them to its observance, they took oath upon a missal, tracing 
a cross thereon, in the name of God and the Holy Evangelists. 
To make all sure, the worthy Father Luque then administered 
tlie sacrament, giving each a portion of the consecrated wafer 
and taking the same himself So impressive was the scene, 
that the bystanders were melted to tears ; but all these ghostly 
precautions for amity and fair-play eventually proved to be 
of no more value than is usual where solemn vows and lengthy 
protestations are used to cover lurking rivalry and distrust. 
(xMarch 10th, 1526). 

An equal division of the countries to be conquered was, with 
no better effect, stipulated, with wearisome repetition, in the 
document. 

"Such," says Mr. Prescott, "was the singular compact, by 
which three obscure individuals coolly carved out and parti- 
tioned among themselves an empire, of whose extent, power 
and resources, of whose situgition, of whose existence, even, 
they had no sure or precise knowledge. The positive and un- 
hesitating manner in which they speak of the grandeur of this 
empire, of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but 
of which they could have really known so little, forms a striking 
contrast with the general skepticism and indifference manifested 
by nearly every other person, high and low, in the community 
of Panama." 

This skepticism proved an obstacle almost as formidable as 
the difficulties of the enterprise itself Two vessels, well fitted 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 295 

out, were made ready, and volunteers were summoned for an 
expedition to Peru, Few at first responded to tlie call. The 
numbers who had left their bones on the marshy shores of the 
wilderness, and the wretched looks of the survivors, served as 
a fearful warning to all from venturing on the same perilous 
track. Singular to relate, nearly all the remains of the for- 
mer crews enlisted, determined to see the adventure to the 
end; and from the floating mass of needy adventurers with 
which new colonies are filled, enough were enrolled to make 
up the number of an hundred and sixty men. A few horses 
and fire-arms were added to the equipment; and, with this 
slender armament, each in his own vessel, Pizarro and Alma- 
gro again set sail on their hazardous adventure. 

Under the guidance of an experienced pilot, named Kuiz, 
they held their course to the south, without touching on the 
coast, to the River San Juan, the farthest point reached by 
Almagro. Encouraged by the gold which they found in the 
native villages, the commanders resolved to gain, if possible, 
more volunteers by the display of their plunder. Almagro 
accordingly set sail for Panama; Pizarro, with a part of his 
force, remained on shore, and Ruiz, in the other vessel, pressed 
southward to effect discoveries. The latter, coasting along the 
shore, found it well peopled and cultivated, and from the crew 
of a halsa^ or native craft, which he overhauled, gained fresh 
intelligence of the situation and riches of Peru. Gold and 
silver, he was told, were as plenty as wood in the palaces of 
the monarch. Two natives of that kingdom he detained, that 
they might serve as interpreters. After further surveys, he 
returned to the encampment, being the first European who 
had crossed the line in the vast Pacific. 

Meanwhile, Pizarro had made a most disastrous march into 
the tangled forests of the interior, where many of his men 
had been cut off by the natives, or devoured by the huge alli- 
gators and serpents with which the whole region was infested. 
The survivors suffered great extremities from famine, and from 
the attacks of myriads of musquitoes. Buried to their necks 



296 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

in the sand, to avoid these minute but insufferable tormentors, 
they were on the point of despair, when the return of Ruiz and 
Ahnagro revived their fainting spirits, and afforded the means 
of restoring their emaciated bodies. The latter had brought 
with him eighty fresh volunteers, mostly new comers to the 
colony, and eager to get as soon as possible to the land of gold. 

With this reinforcement, the vessels again got under way, 
and for a long time contended with a series of frightful tem- 
pests, which almost reduced them to wrecks. At length they 
approached the cultivated and healthful region of Quito, and 
anchored off the port of Tacamez, recently conquered by the 
Incas of Peru. Here were two thousand houses and a consid- 
erable display of wealth ; but the Indians, mustering in gi'eat 
numbers, stoutly opposed the landing of the intruders. A 
sharp conflict ensued, and the Spaniards, vastly outnumbered, 
might have been overwhelmed by their antagonists, but for 
a diverting accident. One of the cavaliers, in the press of the 
action, fell from his horse — and the natives, utterly amazed at 
this unexpected division of what they had supposed a centaur, 
or single animal, fell back in surprise, and allowed the invaders 
to regain their vessels. 

It was now evident enough that their force was utterly in- 
sufficient for the conquest of the country, and a fierce alterca- 
tion ensued between the two captains, who were with difficulty 
prevented from deciding the contest, sword in hand. It was 
at length agreed that Pizarro, with a part of the force, should 
remain on the little island of Gallo, while his partner returned 
to Panama for fresh recruits and additional supplies. The 
impatient spirits, destined to this desolate encampment, broke 
forth into remonstrance and lamentation; which, however, 
availed little with their stern commander. The letters which 
they dispatched to their friends in Panama, entreating assist- 
ance, and avowing that their lives would all be sacrificed to 
the cupidity of their leaders, were mercilessly seized by Alma- 
gro, who thus trusted to prevent any prejudicial reports from 
reaching the colony. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 297 

All his vigilance, however, proved ineffectual. In a ball of 
cotton, sent as a present to the governor's lady, was concealed 
a paper, setting forth a full statement of their condition, writ- 
ten by the malcontents, imploring rescue from certain death, 
and ending with the following precious quartette, uncompli 
mentary to the captains, composed by one Juan de Sarabia, a 
fellow-townsman of Pizarro's: 

"Oh, then, good Sir Governor, 
Look sharp into their ways; 
there goes the Drover for his flock, 
and here the Butcher stays."* 

Such was the effect of this forlorn document, that the new 
governor, De los Eios, utterly refused to countenance any 
further attempts to carry out the enterprise. He forthwith 
dispatched two vessels, under an officer of his own, to bring 
off the survivors of the expedition from their forced detention 
on the island. The arrival of this succor was received with 
exultation by its reluctant tenants, who had already suffered 
great extremities from privation, and from the continued 
drenching of thunder-storms. 

But Pizarro stood firm to his purpose; and his resolution 
was confirmed by a letter from his associates in Panama, who 
pledged themselves to forward reinforcements and supplies as 
soon as possible. He well knew that eloquence or persuasion 
would be wasted on his discontented followers, but sternly 
resolved to prosecute his adventure — alone if necessary — or 
to die in the attempt. Drawing a line with his sword on the 
sand, he addressed them in a few words, which, for deep per- 
suasion, couched under harsh truth, have seldom been surpassed. 

"Comrades and friends," he said, "this side is that of death, 
of toils, -of famine, of nakedness, of storms, and homelessness ; 
the other is that of ease : on that, lies Panama and its poverty ; 

* "Pues Senor Gobernador, 
Mirelo bien por entero • 
que alia va el recogedor 
y aca queda el carnicero." 



298 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

on tins, Peru and its riches. Let each man choose what be- 
comes a good Castilian." So saying, he stepped over the line 
to the southward. Kuiz and twelve others only followed 
him; and considering the perils already encountered, and the 
despair of timely aid, it is wonderful that the number should 
have been so many. There is hardly an instance of courage 
or hardihood which can be compared to that of this little hand- 
ful of men, who thus preferred to remain on a pestilential and 
desolate island, rather than relinquish the vast undertaking to 
which they had put their hands. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ISLAND OF GORGONA RELIEF FROM PANAMA DISCOVERY OF TUM- 

BEZ PERUVIAN TREASURE — SURVEY OF THE COAST RETURN TO 

PANAMA PIZARRO REPAIRS TO SPAIN AUDIENCE BEFORE 

THE EMPEROR GRANT OF THE CROWN. 

The vessels sailed away, and the little crew of forlorn ad- 
venturers were left alone, with nothing to aid them but stout 
hearts and an unlimited trust in the saints. Morning prayers 
were always duly performed, and as duly at sunset, 

* * * "With many a melting close 
Solemn and slow the evening anthem rose — 
Rose to the Virgin — 'twas the hour of day 
When setting suns o'er summer seas display 
A path of glory opening in the West, 
To golden climes and islands of the blest." 

They passed upon a raft to the distant island of Gorgona, 
and there, for seven months, dragged out a miserable exist- 
ence, watching wearily and fruitlessly for the expected sail. 

Meanwhile, the utmost exertions of Luque and Almagro, 
after great delay, could only obtain the governor's permission 
to dispatch a vessel with a few hands to the relief of their 
ally — and positive orders were issued that it should return to 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 299 

Panama within six months. Its arrival was greeted with rap- 
turous joy, and the little band of invincibles, eagerly embark- 
ing, quitted the spot which, in commemoration of their woes, 
received the appropriate name of "Ilell." Guided by Ruiz, 
they steered southward, crossed the line, and, at the end of 
twenty days, entered the noble gulf of Guayaquil. The Pe- 
ruvian town of Tumbez, with the Andes in its rear, lay before 
them, and, to their great joy, exhibited strong evidences of 
wealth and population. 

The strangers, in their floating habitation, were objects of 
intense curiosity to the Indians, who gathered in crowds on 
the shore to behold the wondrous spectacle. A number soon 
came off in their balsas, bearing plentiful offerings of the 
delicious products of the tropics, and also several llamas, 
which the discoverers viewed with much interest and delight. 
Among these visitors was a Peruvian noble, of high rank, whom 
Pizarro, after the usual fashion, informed (through an inter- 
preter) that he had come to claim tlie lawful allegiance of the 
country to his master, the king of Spain, and to rescue its 
inhabitants from the perdition to which their evil spirits were 
conducting them. To this impudent announcement, however, 
the chief maintained a discreet silence. 

In return, a Greek knight, named Pedro of Candia, was 
sent on shore, who was most hospitably received by the people, 
and who excited their alarm and wonder by the first exhibi- 
tion of the terror of fire-arms. He was, we are told, "kindly 
entertayned of the Gouernour, who shewed him a temple dedi- 
cated to the Sunne, wherein were vnspeakable riches." This 
temple he described as being gorgeously covered with plates 
of gold and silver. In the gardens of a religious nunnery 
were parterres of fruit and flowers, most exquisitely imitated 
in the same precious materials. 

The Spaniards, half frantic with joy at these tidings, weighed 
anchor, and stood along tlie coast in quest of fresh discoveries. 
Every where they were treated with the utmost kindness and 
hospitality by the generous natives, who, from their fair com- 



800 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

plexions, and the brilliant gleaming of their armor, gave them 
the title of "Children of the Sun" — of their own adored lumi- 
nary. Every where, too, the mind of Pizarro was filled with 
fresh elation by the accounts of the great Inca, whose city lay 
amid the distant Andes, and whose temples and palaces were 
resplendent with the precious ores. A fertile and well-irri- 
gated country, and substantial edifices of stone, all confirmed 
the conviction that he had at last lighted on that famous 
Peru, the object of such daring resolve and such indefatigable 
endurance. 

He reached the ninth degree of south latitude, and then, at 
the solicitations of his people, turned his prow to the north- 
ward. He left two of his men at Tumbez, and carried off, by 
permission, some of the natives in his vessel, intending to teach 
them Castilian, and use them as interpreters. 

Great was the- joy and excitement at Panama, when the little 
crew, who had been given up for lost, returned with tidings 
of their marvellous discovery; The governor, however, even 
now, frowned upon fresh undertakings, declaring that he "did 
not mean to depopulate his own Province to people new Lands, 
nor to cause the death of any more People than had been 
killed already, for a show of Sheep, (llamas) Gold, and Silver, 
which had been brought home," It was now resolved to 
apply for assistance to the crown itself; and the illiterate, but 
naturally eloquent Pizarro was selected as the envoy most fit- 
ted to plead the cause of the enterprise at the imperial court. 
His associates, though not entirely trusting him, made ever}'- 
exertion for his creditable outfit. Fifteen hundred ducats 
were raised with difl&culty, and with this, and with speci- 
mens of the gold, the llamas, and the fabrics of Peru, in the 
spring of 1528, he quitted Panama. 

Early in the summer, he reached Seville, and there was forth- 
with arrested at the suit of Enciso, (mentioned in the account 
of Balboa) to whom the early settlers of Darien were in debt. 
The court, however, dispatched orders for his release, and he 
betook himself to the Emperor Charles V. at Toledo. That 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 301 

sovereign, continually pinched for funds to carry out his am- 
bitious plans, viewed with exultation the rich trophies of 
Peruvian wealth, and listened with deep interest to the won- 
derful story of Pizarro. So stirring was his narrative, so full 
of pathos and intuitive eloquence, that Charles, listening to 
his account of the sufferings of himself and his companions, 
was melted into tears. The suit of the applicant met a favorable 
audience, and was commended to the immediate attention of 
the Council of the Indies. 

It was not until the following sunmier (1529), however, that 
a decision could be gained from that tardy machine of colonial 
administration. At that time (July 29th), an instrument was 
executed by the crown, granting to him the right of discovery 
and conquest over a great extent of the South American conti- 
nent, and conferring on him the appointments of governor, 
captain-general, and other important offices, for life. Almagro 
received only a petty command, and Luque was invested with 
the new bishopric of Tumbez. All authority, in effect, was 
centred in the hands of Pizarro. Praiseworthy injunctions for 
the good treatment of the Indians were laid on him ; ecclesias- 
tics were provided for their conversion ; and government, with 
a paternal regard for the peace of the projected colony, strictly 
prohibited all lawyers and attornies from resorting there. 
Pizarro, on his part, was bound to raise two hundred and 
fifty men for the conquest, and to sail from Panama within 
a fixed time. 



802 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE BROTHERS OF PIZARRO DEPARTURE FROM SPAIN THIRD 

VOYAGE TO PERU MARCH ALONG THE COAST — VALUABLE 

PLUNDER ARRIVAL AT PUNA BATTLE WITH THE 

INDIANS ASSISTANCE OF SAINT MICHAEL. 

Flushed with these signal successes, the adventurer returned 
to his birth-place, where his present importance and popularity- 
formed a most striking contrast to the forlorn and destitute 
condition of his youth. He found man}^ of his townsmen 
ready to embark in his fortunes, and among them four of his 
brothers. Of these, Hernando alone was legitimate. Gonzalo 
and Juan Pizarro were of the same unsanctified origin as him- 
self; and Francisco de Alcantara was only connected with 
him by their mother. The first was haughty and arrogant to 
the last degree, and all were men of the most indomitable cour- 
age and resolution. 

Some difficulty, however, was found in obtaining the requi- 
site funds; and it is said that, but for the assistance of Cortes, 
then flushed with the spoils of the Montezumas, the enterprise 
might have fallen through altogether. Pizarro was finally 
unable fully to complete his stipulated armament ; and to avoid 
too strict an inquest, hurriedly got under way, in January, 1530, 
and put to sea with only a part of his command. 

His two associates were eagerly waiting at Nombre de Dios 
to learn the result of his application, and great was their dismay 
and disappointment on finding that the offices and honors which 
were to have been impartially divided, were all concentrated 
in the person of their artful emissary. But he replied to their 
reproaches with many plausible excuses and fair promises; 
Luque and Espinosa argued for conciliation: and the fierce 
Almagro, by their representations, was induced to patch up a 
hollow treaty with his rival, who made repeated assurances 
that all the terms of the contract should be fulfilled. 

On arriving at Panama, however, a strong aversion to the 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 303 

perilous .enterprise appeared among the colonists. A few of 
his old crew joined the banner of Pizarro; but his force, all 
told, amounted only to an hundred and eighty men, with 
twenty-seven horses. With this slender armament he resolved 
to sail, in three vessels, leaving Almagro in Panama to gather 
reinforcements. Mass was solemnly said in the cathedral, and 
the whole company received the sacrament. Thus fortified by 
the ministrations of the church, this little crew of desperadoes 
sailed forth, early in January, 1531, on the memorable voyage 
for the Conquest of Peru. 

Thirteen days brought them to the Bay of St. Matthew, a 
little north of the line. Here Pizarro disembarked his troops, 
and pushed southward along the coast, accompanied by his 
vessels. After a most toilsome march, the land-forces fell upon 
a small town in Coaque, which they took by surprise. "We 
fell on them, sword in hand," says one of them, "for, if the 
Indians had been avised of our corning, we had never gotten 
such store of gold and emeralds as we did get." Many of these 
precious stones were broken to bits by the rude soldiers, in at- 
tempting to test their genuineness. The value of the ill-gotten 
treasure was, however, very large, and Pizarro shrewdly sent 
a considerable quantity back to Panama, to allure fresh adven- 
turers to his standard. 

Again they marched along the shore, suffering terribly from 
the heat, in their armor of steel and their doublets of quilted 
cotton ; and several perished on the way. The natives, warned 
by the fate of Coaque, retired at their approach, taking their 
valuables with them. The arrival of a vessel from Panama, 
with supplies, and of a small reinforcement under one Belal- 
cazar, revived the drooping spirits of the Spaniards, almost 
worn out with heat, toil, and privation. They finally readied 
the Gulf of Guayaquil, and encamped on the isle of Puna, near 
Tumbez. The citizens of this place, with whom the islanders 
were at deadly enmity, came over in a friendly manner to visit 
the strangers. Soon after his arrival, on tlie report of a con- 
spiracy, Pizarro seized a number of the native chieftains, and 



304 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

gave them up to be massacred by their enemies, the people of 
that city. The islanders, provoked by this outrage, attacked 
the Spanish quarters in great force. They were, however, 
though several thousand in number, defeated and dispersed by 
the fire-arms and cavalry of the invaders. During this battle, it is 
said that Michael the Archangel was seen in the air, with sword 
and shield, fighting valiantly against Satan and his legions — 
"but hardly had the Castilians shouted 'victory,' when the 
devils fled away, and, a great whirlwind gathering in the air, 
terrible voices were heard, crying ' Thou conquerest ! Michael, 
Thou conquerest!' From this circumstance, Don Francisco 
Pizarro felt such devotion to the said Archangel, that he vowed 
to call by his name the first city he should found," — a vow to 
which the city of San Miguel still bears witness. 

Notwithstanding their defeat, the islanders kept up a ha- 
rassing warfare, and Pizarro hailed with joy the arrival of a 
vessel with a reinforcement of a hundred men. They were 
commanded by Hernando de Soto, afterwards famous for the 
Conquest of Florida and the discovery of the Mississippi. 
Strengthened by this addition to his force, the general now re- 
solved to cross over to the mainland, and try his fortunes in 
the golden recesses of Peru. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PEOPLE OF PERU TRADITION OF THEIR ORIGIN — GOVERNMENT, "A 

PATERNAL DESPOTISM " THEIR CIVILIZATION THEIR RELIGION 

WORSHIP OF THE SUN SUPERSTITIONS DIVISION OF THE 

EMPIRE — DEFEAT OF HUASCAR AND ENTHRONEMENT 
OF ATAHUALLPA. 

Perhaps the most extraordinary system of human commu- 
nity ever recorded in history, was that of the Peruvians when 
first discovered by their European invaders. The origin, both 
of the nation and its remarkable rulers, was, of course, among a 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 305 

people deficient in written records, lost in fable and tradition. 
According to the native history (or mythology), in a remote 
age there appeared on the banks of Lake Titiaca, a man and 
woman, of majestic appearance, and clothed in decent raiment. 
These mysterious personages, Manco Capac and Mama Ocollo, 
declared themselves the Children of the Sun, sent by that ben- 
eficent luminary to rescue the human race from its abyss of 
misery and ignorance. Collecting the savage tribes, who wan- 
dered the adjoining regions, they taught them the arts of civ- 
ilized life, and instituted a regular government. They founded 
the city of Cuzco, and bequeathed to their descendants, the 
long line of Incas, the growing empire of Peru. 

Conquest continually advanced its boundaries; and by the 
sixteenth century it comprised a vast extent of country, stretch- 
ing, for nearly two thousand miles, along the Pacific, and 
embracing a variety of conquered or dependant races. The 
government of all, both Peruvian and subjected, was the most 
perfect specimen of a "paternal despotism" which has ever 
been presented to the eye of the world. The Inca was absolute, 
and all the inhabitants of his vast dominions did not possess 
the shadow of a right or law apart from his sovereign will. 
Nor was this portentous assertion of authority a mere instru- 
ment of terror, produced only on state occasions, to overawe 
the refractory or minister to the caprice of the sovereign. It 
formed an integral and engrossing portion of the life of every 
man, woman and child throughout the Peruvian domains. 
Industry, food, clothing, shelter, domestic relations, amusements, 
every thing, were under the direct supervision of government. 
Ko one was allowed to be idle. No one was permitted to suf- 
fer from want. Education, marriage, social intercourse, were 
all under strict regulation. In such a place the subject must 
reside; such and such work, at stated times, he must perform; 
at such an age he must take a certain wife; and he must bring 
up his children in a fixed and certain manner. "The impera- 
tive spirit of despotism would not allow them to be happy or 
misernble in any way but that established by law. The power 
20 



806 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of free agency — the inestimable and inborn right of every 
human being — was annihilated in Peru."* 

Despotism, says a profound but popular writer, may be 
borne, but the intermeddling of a royal busy-body is too much 
for human nature. 

This rule, accurately enough applied to the sprightlier peo- 
ple of Europe, may have its exceptions; for, strange to say, 
among the Peruvians, this apparently vexatious system seems 
to have worked well. It was, indeed, remarkably accordant 
with the gentle, industrious, and custom-loving disposition of 
the races to which it was applied ; and few more pleasing pic- 
tures of rural quiet and tranquillity exist, than those which are 
given of this people under its primitive government. 

Under this strange supervision, too, it is evident that the 
Peruvian race was gradually approaching civilization. An 
enlightened system of agriculture, irrigation, and husbandry 
in general, was pursued; and the splendid roads and cnuse- 
wa3''s, carried over the terrible heights and through the almost 
impassable ravines of the Andes, still attest a high degree of 
mechanical skill, as well as indomitable industry. 

The religion of tlie original Peruvians was, for an i<lolatry, 
far superior in refinement and humanity to that of most of the 
American races. Their chief deity was the Sun, whom they 
venerated as the fountain of life, and on whose altars they 
offered their choicest sacrifices. His temple in Cuzco was lit- 
erally covered with gold, attached in resplendent plates to the 
walls; that of his bride and sister, the moon, being similarly 
adorned with silver, as more suited to the nature of that chaste 
and modest luminary. Human sacrifices were rare, were un- 
polluted by cannibalism, and were only offered on the most 
momentous occasions. But many of the races which, by con- 
quest or encroachment, had fallen under the Peruvian sway, 
exercised grosser idolatries and rites more frequently sanguin- 
ary. The Incas, with a politic toleration, not only spared the 
idols of vanquished provinces, but were even in the habit of 

* Prescott. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. ' 307 

transporting tliem to the capital, and defraying tlie expenses 
of their worship from the royal treasury. An old writer, after 
an enumeration, extending over many pages, of the hideous 
rites and abominable devices of the remoter tribes, severely 
concludes: 

"It were an endlesse toyle to reckon vp all the superstitions 
of Peru, in which were so many nations, agreeing in disagree- 
ing from truth, yet disagreeing in their diuersified errours. 
To let passe Paucura, which fatte, sacrifice, and eate their cap- 
tiues, and euery tuesday offer two Indians to the Deuill; and 
the drunken Prouince of Carrapa, where they eate little and 
drinke much, * * * * *• the Mitimaes, which are 
earely at their meate, and make but one drinking in the day, 
(which lastes from morning till night) * * * ; the Canari 
put their wiues to the drudgery abroade, while themselues 
spinne, weaue, tricke vp themselues, and performe other 
womanish functions at home; The Galani make their captiues 
drunke, and then the chiefe Prieste cutteth off their heads and 
sacrificeth them. Generally, in the mountaines they were 
more cruell, but all obserued bloudie, beastly, diabolicall cere- 
monies, the recounting whereof must needes weary the patient- 
est Reader." Such accounts, received from prejudiced sources, 
must be taken with some grains of allowance, but it is certain 
that a tendency to strong drink and protracted revelry was a 
Peruvian failing — cherished by the facility with which their 
maize was converted into intoxicating liquors. 

At the time of the Spanish invasion, the throne of the Incas, 
disputed by rival claimants, had been only recently secured 
by the victor. Huayna Capac, one of the wisest and most 
powerful of the Incas, the conqueror of Quito, at his death, 
in 1525, had divided his empire between two sons, giving 
Peru to Huascar, and the lately-subdued kingdom of the north 
to Atahuallpa, whose mother was a princess of the fallen 
dynasty. For five years the half-brothers ruled in apparent 
amity, each in his own domain. At the end of that time, 
jealousy or some uncertain questions of dispute, brought 



308 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

about a collision of the rival sovereigns. Tlie contest, after 
various indecisive actions, was finally decided in a great bat- 
tle, near the mountain of Chimborazo. Atahuallpa, who com- 
manded his own forces, defeated the Peruvians, with terrible 
slaughter, and pushed rapidly into the heart of his brother's 
dominions. In a second engagement, fought by Iluascar in 
defence of his capital, the generals of his rival were again suc- 
cessful, after an obstinate and bloody engagement, lasting an 
entire day. The unfortunate Inca was taken captive, and 
Cuzco fell into the hands of his enemies. He was held in 
strict confinement, while his foAunate rival took undisputed 
possession of his kingdom, and assumed the imperial title of 
Inca of Peru. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DESERTION OF TUMBEZ MARCH SOUTHWARD SAN MIGUEL FOUNDED 

THE NATIVES ENSLAVED PIZARRO MARCHES IN QUEST OF THE INCA 

CROSSES THE ANDES ARRIVAL AT CAXAMALCA VISIT TO 

ATAHUALLPA HIS INDIAN DEMEANOR DARING AND 

TREACHEROUS RESOLUTION OF PIZARRO. 

PiZARRO, having decided on active measures, lost no time 
in transporting his forces from Puna to the neighboring town 
of Tumbez. On landing, he was surprised at the hostile re- 
ception which he met from a body of natives, and still more 
at finding the town almost entirely demolished. The temple 
was stripped of its precious ornaments, and nothing remained 
to satiate the thirst of his followers for the vaunted gold. 
Two Spaniards, whom he had left here on his former voyage, 
had disappeared; but a note is said to have been given him 
by an Indian, containing the alluring announcement — "Know, 
whoever you may be, that may chance to set foot in this coun- 
try, that it contains more gold and silver than there is iron in 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 809 

Biscay." But the discontented soldiery regarded this as 
merely a subtle device of their leader to reanimate their hopes. 

He decided, however, to push on, and at least to explore the 
country ; and, with the most efficient portion of his force, early 
in May, 1532, set out from Tumbez. Marching southward 
through a thickly-settled country, he conciliated the natives 
by lenient treatment, and obtained in return abundant sup- 
plies. At every village, he made formal proclamation, in the 
name of the Pope and the Emperor, that the inhabitants should 
yield their faith and their allegiance to the high dignitaries in 
question; and the natives, making no opposition to a proceed- 
ing of which they could not comprehend a word, were duly 
enrolled by a notary as faithful subjects of his most Catholic 
majesty. 

In the valley of Tangarala, thirty leagues south of Tumbez, 
he founded a city, which, in fulfilment of his vow, he named 
San Miguel — the neighboring Indians being enslaved, and 
parcelled out among the colonists, "seeing that without the 
services of the natives they could not be sustained, * * * 
for this cause, as well as the agreement of the rev'd. father 
and the office-holders, that it would redound to the service 
of God, as well of the natives themselves, the Governor dis- 
tributed these Indians that they might sustain the settlers, and 
that the Christians might indoctrinate them in our Holy Faith, 
conformably to the directions of his Majesty." 

The gold which had been acquired he sent back to Panama 
to pay for the outfit, and to attract fresh volunteers — persuad- 
ing his men, like Cortes, to relinquish the booty already in 
their grasp, in the hope of gaining the means to acquire still 
richer plunder. He had gained much information concerning 
the country, and had learned that the victorious Atahuallpa 
was now quietly seated on the throne of his father. Contin- 
ual reports of the boundless wealth of that sovereign inflamed 
his cupidity ; and he resolved, at whatever risk, to set forward 
for the alluring regions of the interior. It was probably his 
purpose to seek a peaceful interview with the Inca, and to 



310 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

wait for stronger forces before carrying out his scheme of 
plunder and invasion. 

On the 2-lth of September, leaving a small garrison at San 
Miguel, he set forth with his little army in search of the dis- 
tant court of the most powerful sovereign in America. For 
five days he marched through a most delightful country, 
abounding in aqueducts, and cultivated in the most skilful 
manner. At the end of that time, he halted in a beautiful 
valley, to allow the soldiers to recruit their strength. Observ- 
ing, with uneasiness, signs of discontent, he took the bold 
resolution of inviting all who were tired of the expedition to 
return to the settlement. Only nine took advantage of this 
offer. The rest avowed their determination to see the adven- 
ture to an end. By this hazardous, but politic precaution, he 
removed the seeds of disaffection from his camp, and effectu- 
ally stopped the mouths of such as might be inclined, farther 
on, to a I'etrcat. With only an hundred and sixty-eight men, 
of whom a little more than a third were cavalry, and with a 
mere apology for fire-arms or artillery, he pressed boldly on 
toward the mountains. At a place called Zaran he halted, 
dispatching Dc Soto to a Peruvian post among the hills. At 
the expiration of a week, that officer returned, and with him 
came a messenger from the Inca himself, with presents for the 
Spanish commander, and a friendly message from Atahuallpa, 
inviting him to visit the court. Many courtesies were inter- 
changed, with the aid of the interpreters, whom Pizarro had 
taken to Spain, and caused to be instructed in his own lan- 
guage. A most civil offer of respect and service was dis- 
patched to the Indian emperor. 

A few days' march brought the Spaniards to the foot of the 
Andes. Behind the mountain lay Caxamalca, where Atahu- 
allpa, with his army, was then encamped. The terrors of the 
ascent, and the uncertainty of what might await them, caused 
many of the Spaniards to waver, and to prefer marching along 
the easy and level road which led to Cuzco. But their leader, 
with the fervid eloquence of nature, urged them on. He en- 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 811 

treated tliem not to incur the contempt of the Inca, by draw- 
ing back from their resolve, already announced; and assured 
them that in spreading the doctrines of the True Faith, the 
Lord would ever be found fighting on their side. Enthusias- 
tic shouts were returned, and it was resolved on the following 
day to commence the ascent of the rugged sierra. 

Pizarro, with one hundred men, part cavalry and part foot, 
set forward up the mountain, leaving his brother Hernando, 
with the remainder, to wait for farther orders. The soldiers 
toiled upward, leading their horses, over frightful ledges and 
ravines, and along precipices where a single false step would 
insure destruction. At night, they took up their quarters in 
a strong fortress of stone, commanding the pass, and sent word 
to Hernando to follow as speedily as possible. The next day 
the march was resumed, and the adventurers suffered greatly 
not only from the difficulty of the way, but from the cold air of 
the elevated region into which they had risen. An embassy from 
the Inca, bearing a friendly message and a welcome present of 
llamas, met them at nightfiill; and Pizarro, with politic arro- 
gance, did not fail to vaunt the power and dignity of his sov- 
ereign, whom he described as being as far superior to the Inca 
as the latter was to the petty chieftains who owned his sway. 

On the following morning, he resumed his marcli, and on 
the seventh day, after a most difficult descent of the sierra, 
arrived in view of Caxamalca. Tlie city lay in a beautiful 
valley, surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains, and inhab- 
ited by a race of much refinement and industry. At the hot 
baths, a league from the town, lay encamped the army of the 
Inca — its white tents covering the hill-side, thick as snow-flakes, 
for several miles. "So many did they appear," says one of the 
adventurers, "that for certain we were filled with dread, for 
we had never dreamed that the Indians could have held so 
proud a state, nor so many tents, pitched with such skill, the 
like whereof was never before seen in the Indies, and caused in 
all the Spaniards great fear and confusion ; howbeit, it would 
never have done to show it, or in the least to recoil; for if any 



312 KOllTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

sign of weakness had appeared, the very Indians we had with 
us would have killed us; so with a sprightly bearing, after 
having well surveyed the aforesaid town and tents, we descended 
into the valley beloW^, and entered Caxamalca," (November loth, 
1532). 

This place, of about ten thousand inhabitants, was quite de- 
serted, and the Spaniards took up their quarters in a great square 
or rather triangle, surrounded by low buildings, probably bar- 
racks. Anxious to learn the force and the intentions of the 
Inca, the Spanish general immediately dispatched his brother 
Hernando and De Soto, with a small body of horse, to the In- 
dian camp. Galloping rapidly over a causeway which led 
thither, this martial cavalcade appeared like a strange appari- 
tion before the astonished eyes of the Peruvian guards. Ata- 
huallpa, they were informed, was in a light summer-house at 
the baths, and thither they took their way. The court of this 
building was thronged with Peruvian nobles, and, in their 
midst, seated on a low cushion, like an oriental chieftain, was 
the Inca himself Ilis dress was the simplest in the crowd, 
except that he wore round his forehead the crimson horla., a 
fringe which hung down to the eye-brows, the Peruvian em- 
blem of imperial dignity. Calmness and apathy alone were 
visible on his countenance. 

The Spanish ambassador, without dismounting, delivered 
the message of his general — enlarging on the power of the 
Spanish sovereign, proffering instruction in the Holy Faith, 
and requesting a visit from the sovereign of Peru to the Span- 
ish camp. To this speech, translated by the interpreter Feli- 
pillo, the Inca vouchsafed not a word, and appeared entirely 
unconscious that any thing had been spoken. One of his nobles 
answered, "It is well." But Hernando, ill at ease, respectfully 
requested the Inca to convey his pleasure with his own lips. 
At this entreaty, AtahuJillpa, with a slight smile, turned his 
head, and replied, " Tell your captain that I am keeping a fast, 
which will last till to-morrow morning; I will then visit him, 
with certain of my nobles. Meanwhile, let him occupy the 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 313 

public buildings on the square, and enter no other dwelling, 
till I come, when I will direct what shall be done." 

He now looked with some appearance of interest upon the 
splendid war-horse of De Soto, and that cavalier, giving his 
charger the rein, dashed swiftly over the plain, displaying the 
graces of his steed and his own exquisite horsemanship. 
^'This strange beaste made the Indians afraid, but Atabaliba^^ 
(Atahuallpa) "was nothing moued therewith." Even when 
the fiery animal was reined upon his haunches, so near the 
Inca that the foam from his mouth fell on his person,* he pre- 
served the same immovable and statuesque demeanor. It is 
said, that on the same evening he put to death several of his 
soldiers for their weakness in shrinking back as the terrible 
animal passed them. 

After partaking of some refreshment, the Spaniards returned 
to their quarters, where all were filled with dismay at their 
reports of the power and state of the Inca — a dismay by no 
means lessened when at evening they beheld the camp-fires 
of the Peruvians lighting up the distant hill-side — "a fear- 
ful thing to see, for it appeared like the heaven filled with 
stars." Pizarro alone secretly exulted ; for he now beheld the 
career of his weary attendance and protracted toils at last 
brought to a crisis. With almost inconceivable audacity, he 
had resolved, in emulation of Cortes, with his slender force, to 
seize the Inca in the midst of his nobles, and hold him as a 
hostage for the obedience of his realms. The promised visit 
on the morrow seemed to offer a fair opportunity for his treach- 
erous scheme; and he used every incentive of fanaticism, 
ambition and rapacity, to reanimate the courage of his followers. 

* In the old ballad of " King Estmere," a similar affront is put upon the 
paynim (Saracen) king of Spain, by the Christian Champion, who rides into 
the banquet-hall in such discourteous wise, that 

" The froth, that came from his brydle bitte 
Light in kynge Breraor's bearde." 

This ballad, it should seem, was written in the fifteenth century, or we might 
suppose that the old romancer had in view the singular scene above related. 



314 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

CHAPTER VII. 

AMBUSCADE OF THE SPANIARDS VISIT OF ATAHUALLPA IMPUDENT 

SPEECH OF THE FRIAR VALVERDE ANSWER OF THE INCA SEIZURE 

OF HIS PERSON MASSACRE OF HIS ATTENDANTS — PLUNDER OF HIS 

CAMP AGREEMENT FOR HIS RANSOM HIS DEMEANOR EX- 
PEDITION TO PACHACAMAC — HORSES SHOD WITH SILVER. 

Every precaution to insure success to his iniquitous scheme 
was now taken by the Spanish general. It was resolved to 
post the soldiers in the numerous halls and passages which 
opened on the great square ; at a given signal, all were to rush 
forward, and fall sword in hand upon the Peruvians, and seize 
the person of their monarch. All the arrangements being most 
carefully completed, "the reverend fathers busied themselves 
the whole night in prayer, begging that God would award due 
success to his most sacred service, the exaltation of the faith, 
and the salvation of such a number of souls — spilling much 
blood as well as tears in the discipline they underwent" — all, 
evidently, half frightened out of their wits! Pizarro then 
cheered the soldiers " with a right Christian harangue which he 
made them," and all uplifted their voices in the pious chant, 
'"'' Exsurge^ Domine^ etjudica causam tuam." "One might have 
supposed them," says Mr. Prescott, "a company of martyrs, 
about to lay down their lives in defence of their faith, instead 
of a licentious band of adventurers, meditating one of the most 
atrocious acts of perfidy on the record of history!" 

At noon on the following day the Inca took up his march 
for the city. Before him went a multitude of attendants, 
sweeping every particle of dust from the causeway ; and the 
crowd of nobles on whose shoulders he was borne, and who 
marched by the side of his litter, "shone like the sun," with 
the blaze of their golden ornaments. The Spaniards, panting 
with fear and imjDatience, had been waiting all day at their 
arms, when the unwelcome news arrived that the Inca would 
delay his entrance into the town until the following morning. 
At this change of purpose, all was consternation ; but Pizarro, 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 815 

with remarkable presence of mind, sent a message, entreating 
Atahuallpa to enter, as lie had prepared an entertainment, 
^^and all was in readiness to receive hviii.''^ The cumbrous pro- 
cession again moved forward, and Atahuallpa sent orders that 
a palace, called "The House of the Serpent," should be pre- 
pared for his reception. As a token of his confidence and 
good faith, he ordered his nobles and attendants to lay aside 
their arms, and thus, without the shadow of hostility or even 
defence, approached the city. 

A little before sunset, he entered the great square, borne on 
a splendid throne of massive gold, overshadowed with the 
plumes of the gay birds of the tropics. Before him went 
four hundred menials, clearing the way, and singing their na- 
tional chants, "which in our ears," says one of the Spaniards, 
"sounded like the Songs of Hell." 

From his lofty position, the Inca calmly surveyed the mul- 
titude of his followers, who formed around him in courtly 
order. When about six thousand of them had entered the 
square, he looked around inquiringly, and said, "Where are 
the strangers?" At this word came forward the reverend 
Father Valverde, Pizarro's chaplain, with a crucifix in one hand 
and a breviary in the other, and made a long harangue, com- 
mencing with the creation, and thence proceeding through the 
fall of Adam, the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, 
the appointment of St. Peter as God's Vicar on Earth, the 
apostolical succession of Popes, the bull in favor of Castile, 
and ending logically with a formal demand that the Inca 
should submit his spiritual guidance to the Pope, and his tem- 
poral allegiance to the king of Spain. All this was duly 
translated by the interpreter, Felipillo, who, by way of ex- 
pounding the doctrine of the Trinity, explained to his royal 
auditor that "The Christians had Three Gods and One God, 
making Four in all " 

"To the which words," says a by stander, "and much besides 
that the reverend father said, he remained silent witliout re- 
turning a reply. He then said that he would see wliat God 



316 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

had commanded, as he was told, in the book ; so he took the 
book, and opened it, and looked it over, examining its form 
and arrangement; and rather admiring the writing, it seemed 
to me, than what was therein written." He next held it to his 
ear, and saying, contemptuously, "This tells me nothing," 
flung it angrily away. Then, with a countenance flushed with 
emotion, he made answer to such portions of the address as 
he had been able to understand. He would be no man's trib- 
utary, he said, and as for the great priest beyond the waters, 
he must be mad to talk of giving away countries he had never 
seen. Nor would he change his faith. The God of the Chris- 
tians, according to their own account, had been slain by his 
own creatures, but the eternal Sun, the great deity of Peru, 
still shone on his glorious and beneficent course through the 
firmament. Excited by the insults he had received, he de- 
clared that the Spaniards should render a strict account of 
their doings in his territories. 

The discomfited friar, seeing the ill success of his eloquence, 
picked up the book, bowed his head, and hastened to Pizarro. 
"Did you see what passed?" he cried, — "while we waste time 
in fooleries and arguments with this dog, full of pride, the 
square is filling with Indians. Set on them at once ! I absolve 
you." The fatal gun, the signal of slaughter, was fired, and 
the Spaniards, horse and foot, rushed furiously from their lurk- 
ing-places. Taken by surprise, utterly unarmed, and bewil- 
dered by the unwonted discharge of artillery and fire-arms, 
the unhappy victims were slaughtered without the slightest 
means of resistance. The nobles, with affecting devotion, 
flung themselves before their master, to receive the blows of 
the murderers, and, by clinging to the legs of their horses, and 
striving to pull the riders from their saddles, for some time kept 
back the press from his person. But they died by hundreds 
around him, and Pizarro, darting through the throng, seized 
his captive with his own hand. A most wanton and merciless 
slaughter was still kept up, and did not cease till the shades 
of night blinded the assassins, and 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 317 

"The hand which slew till it could slay no more, 
Was glued to the sword-hilt with Indian gore." 

Within less tlian an hour, four thousand of the unarmed and 
harmless multitude that had so gaylj entered the square with 
their songs and their holiday attire, lay murdered on the pave- 
ment. A more atrocious and unprovoked massacre is not record- 
ed in history. Not one of the Spaniards had received an injury. 

The unfortunate Atahuallpa, surprised and stunned, as he 
must have been, by the suddenness and extent of his misfor- 
tune, displayed the true fortitude and impassive bearing of 
the native American. "It is the fortune of war," he said, 
coldly, as he sat at supper with his captor. At this time he 
was about thirty years of age, robust in person, and of rather 
a fierce expression. His manner was grave and even stern, 
especially toward his own people; but he was occasionally 
mirthful in the presence of his victors. 

On the following day, the prisoners, of whom there were a 
vast number, were employed to cleanse the city, and give 
burial to their murdered countrymen; after which service, 
they were dismissed to their homes. The remains of the great 
army of the Inca, stupefied by the loss of their sovereign, 
offered no resistance to the seizure of his household or effects, 
and gradually melted away for want of a head — great num- 
bers, however, being retained as personal attendants by the 
victors. The plunder of the camp and the city, consisting of 
gold, silver, and delicate fabrics of wool, was exceedingly val- 
uable. Of the latter, there is said to have been enough for 
several ship loads. 

The captive Inca, perceiving the thirst for gold with which 
his conquerors were consumed, now began to hope for freedom 
by the payment of a great ransom. He promised Pizarro 
that, if he would set him free, the floor of the apartment in 
which they stood should be covered with gold. Observing the 
increduHty of his captors, he declared that he would not only 
cover the floor, but fill the room with gold, as high as he could 



818 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

reacli ; and, standing on tiptoe, stretclied his hand as higli as 
possible against the wall. Filled with amazement, Pizurro 
accepted the tempting offer ; and a red line, nine feet from the 
floor, was drawn around the wall. This room was twentj'^-two 
feet long, by seventeen broad, and Atahuallpa likewise en- 
gaged to fill an adjoining apartment twice full of silver. The 
agreement was formally recorded by a notary, and the unfor- 
tunate prince, relying on the good faith of his conqueror, sent 
orders throughout his realms to strip the palaces and temples 
of their golden ornaments. 

Meanwhile, though held in strict confinement, he was per- 
mitted to receive the visits of his nobles, who still thronged, 
with the deepest devotion, to offer him their homage. Pizarro 
and his chaplain labored hard to effect his conversion, but 
without success — the only argument to which he allowed any 
weight being the following — "that his idol could not be the true 
God, seeing that he had helped him so little in his need." 

His deepest alarm and jealousy were now aroused by the 
discovery that Huascar, whom he still held captive in a city 
not far distant, was making offers to the Spaniards, and that 
Pizarro intended to arbitrate between the rival claimants of the 
throne. He forthwith dispatched secret orders for the execu- 
tion of his unfortunate brother, who was drowned in the river 
of Andamarca, declaring, with his last breath, that his oppressor 
would not be long in following him. With true Indian policy, 
Atahuallpa affected deep sorrow at the event, and laid the 
entire blame at the door of the keepers. 

Masses of gold, wrought in plate or ornaments, continued 
to arrive from the distant provinces; but the Spaniards, as the 
prospect of obtaining the magnificent ransom improved, were 
filled with trepidation, both for their own safety and that of 
their daily-increasing treasure. Their captive, however, ridi- 
culed the idea that any conspiracy, to which himself would 
necessarily be the first victim, could take place among his sub- 
jects, and invited the Spanish commander to send his own 
emissaries to Cuzco, to ascertain the truth. This the latter 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 319 

resolved to do, but first dispatclied liis brother Hernando, with 
a small force, to Pachacamac, a wealthy town on the coast, an 
hundred leagues from Caxamalca. On their march, which lay 
over the mountains, the Spaniards were amazed at the solid 
and admirable construction of the road, and at the innumer- 
able flocks of llamas that studded the sides of the hills. 
Every where they found the marks of industry and dense 
population, and every where met the most kind and hospit- 
able treatment. 

After some weeks' journey, they arrived at Pachacamac, 
which city had its name from a famous idol, whom the Incas, 
with their accustomed toleration, on the conquest of the coun- 
try, had suffered to receive the homage of his worshippers 
conjointly with their own venerated deity, the Sun. "The 
demon Pachacamac," says a Spanish writer, "they say, was 
well pleased with this arrangement, and showed great content 
in his responses, seeing that whether the one or the other was 
served, the souls of these simple unfortunates would still re- 
main caught in his net." "This Demon," says one of the con- 
querors, "would appear in a certain cavern to divers of the 
priests, and would converse with them, and 'tis certain that all 
the nobility of Atabalica" (Atahuallpa) "used to resort there, 
like as the Moors and Turks do to the House of Meca." 

Arrived at the temple, Hernando, despite the resistance of 
the indignant keepers, thrust himself in, crying that he "had 
come too far to be stopped by the arm of an Indian priest." 
The hideous idol was dragged forth, and broken into frag- 
ments, "and in default of a preacher," says Hernando, "I 
made them a sermon myself, telling the delusion wherein they 
lived." He also taught the people the signs of the cross, as a 
charm against the Devil for the future. This pious zeal was 
not crowned with the usual profitable return, for the priests, 
advised of his coming, had secreted the greater part of the 
gold with which their temple abounded. 

From this place, Hernando marched to Xauxa, where Chall- 
cuchima, the most powerful general of the Inca, lay encamped. 



320 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

On the rocky road, the shoes of his horses gave out, and for 
want of iron, they were all shod with silver — the most plenti- 
ful metal in the Spanish company. The chief, whose person 
Hernando was anxious to secure, readily consented to accom- 
pany them to his imprisoned master. Arrived before the Inca, 
the old warrior flung himself on his knees before him, and, 
bathing his hands in tears, exclaimed, "Would that I had 
been here! this would not then have happened." But the 
Inca preserved his usual calm and impassive demeanor. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SPOIL OF THE TEMPLES OF CUZCO ARRIVAL OF ALMAGKO DIVISION 

OF IMMENSE PLUNDER SCHEME FOR THE MURDER OF THE INCA 

— HIS TRIAL, SENTENCE, AND EXECUTION — HYPOCRISY 
OF PIZARRO REFLECTIONS. 

The emissaries dispatched to Cuzco had met the most sig- 
nal success. They had been carried to that city (six hundred 
miles) on the shoulders of the natives, and had found their 
wildest dreams of Peruvian treasure exceeded by the magnifi- 
cence of its spoil. From the temple of the Sun alone, they 
obtained seven hundred plates of gold, for that sacred edifice 
was literally covered with the precious metal. These low- 
lived wretches conducted themselves with great arrogance and 
indecency, and scandalized the religious Peruvians by violating 
the "Virgins of the Sun" — an order of religieuses^ held in 
the highest esteem by his worshippers. They brought back 
two hundred loads of gold and silver, each the burden of 
four Indians. 

During these proceedings, Almagro, with a reinforcement 
of two hundred men, had arrived at San Miguel. On learning 
the marvellous exploits and successes of his partner, he lost 
no time in making his way over the mountains, and, with his 
command, in February, 1533, arrived at Caxamalca. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 321 

The stipulation of the Inca was not quite fulfilled, though 
the gold, suffered to retain the forms into which it had been 
wrought, occupied greatly more space than if it had been cast 
into bars. But the soldiers, regarding the vastness of their 
spoil, were clamorous for a division ; and Pizarro thought it 
most prudent to comply. A number of the most beautiful 
articles were selected for the emperor, as specimens of the wealth 
and art of his newly-acquired territories. Conspicuous among 
these were elegant imitations of the Indian corn, the ear being 
composed of gold, and the partly-opened husk of silver, with 
the delicate tassel or beard of the same material. With these 
valuables, and with the emperor's fifth, Hernando Pizarro 
was to proceed to Spain, and sustain the interests of his 
companions. 

The remainder of the treasure, when melted down into bars, 
proved equal in amount to the value of fifteen millions of dol- 
lars at the present day. "There is no example in history," 
says Kobertson, "of such a sudden acquisition of wealth by 
military service, nor was ever a sum so great divided among 
so small a number of soldiers." The share of Pizarro amounted 
to more than half a million of dollars, besides the great throne 
of the Inca, wrought of solid gold, and valued at three hundred 
thousand more. The cavalry each received about an hundred 
thousand, and the infantry nearly half that amount of the spoil. 
Neither Almagro and his company, nor the colonists of San 
Miguel, were allowed more than a mere nominal proportion of 
the plunder. 

The treasures of Atahuallpa had been shared, but that unfor- 
tunate prince still remained a prisoner in the hands of his 
captors, an object of groundless jealousy and suspicion. He 
had hitherto been permitted to hold the appearance of royalty, 
and to issue commands to his subjects, and had beguiled 
the weary hours of captivity with chess and other European 
games learned of his conquerors. Stricter measures now seem 
to have been taken with him, for, we are told, he had become 
"much grieued with his imprisonment, and especkdhj in rajard 
21 



322 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of the chayne tvhich they j^ut vpon him.'''' lie eagerly demanded 
liis liberation, and Pizarro, with a vile sliow of equity, caused 
the notary to execute a full release of the engagement to which, 
as the price of his freedom, the unfortunate Inca had been bound. 
But he still held him in close confinement, darkly meditating 
the means of freeing himself from one whom the reverence of 
his subjects had made too dangerous. 

A pretext was not long wanting. Absurd and unfounded 
rumors of a great rising arnong the Indians began to circulate 
in the Spanish camp. Pizarro, with the air of an injured man, 
taxed his captive with the suspected plot. "You are jesting," 
said his victim, with a smiling face, but with secret alarm ;• "you 
always say things to me in jest! What are I or my people, 
that we should take arms against men so valiant as yourselves? 
do not utter these jests." But the innocence of the Inca availed 
him little. The soldiers, especially those of Almagro, began 
to clamor for a march to fresh regions of treasure. Atahuallpa 
must be first disposed of, and Pizarro, as a preliminary step, 
dispatched De Soto, the best friend of the unfortunate Inca, on 
a short expedition. After his departure, an infernal scheme, 
under the guise of law, for the murder of the prisoner, was 
hastily concocted. Pizarro and Almagro, sitting as judges, 
went through the formal mockery of a trial of their captive, 
on charges of usurpation, idolatry, adultery, and attempt to 
excite insurrection. This shameful indictment is described even 
by a Spanish contemporary as "a badly- contrived and worse- 
WTitten document, devised by a factious and unprincipled 23riest, 
a ■clumsy notary without conscience, and others of the lilce 
stamp, who were all concerned in this villany." 

Indian witnesses were examined, and their testimony was 
perverted by the wicked interpreter to prove the guilt of the 
Inca. Whatever were the proof, the judgment, as a matter of 
course, went against him, and he was sentenced by the two 
judges, with the concurrence of the infamous Friar Valverde, 
to-be burned alive that same night in the great square of Cax- 
amaJca. To the honor of several of the Spanish oflicers, they 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 323 

vehemently remonstrated against this barbarous decision, and 
entered a written protest against the proceedings. 

When his cruel sentence was communicated to the unfortu- 
nate Atahuallpa, tears fell from his eyes, and he exclaimed, 
" What have I done, or my children, that I should meet such 
a fate ? And from your hands, too," he said, turning to Pizarro ; 
"you who have met with friendship and kindness from my 
people, with whom I have shared my treasures, who have re- 
ceived nothing but benefits at my hands." In the most affect- 
ing manner, he besought that his life might be spared, offering 
double the ransom he had paid, if time were only given to 
obtain it. 

Pizarro, at this touching appeal, turned aside — weeping, it 
is said — but his atrocious purpose remained unaltered; and 
his victim, recovering his self-possession, from that moment 
displayed the true Indian calmness and fortitude. That same 
evening (August 29th) he was conducted, chained hand and 
foot, to the place of execution, where the army, by torch-light, 
stood arrayed around the stake. By his side, like an evil spirit, 
hovered the infernal friar, Valverde, urging him to embrace 
the faith of his murderers. Anxious to secure so distinguished 
a convert, he even assured him, before the pyre was lighted, 
that if he would be baptized, he should die by the less torturing 
death of the garrote.* Pizarro confirmed the promise, and the 
Inca, yielding to their devices, received this devilish travesty 
of the sacrament, with the name of Juan, in honor (!) of St. 
John the Baptist. f 

Turning to Pizarro, he besought him, as a last request, to 
have compassion on his children, and to take them under his 
protection. "Was there no other one in that dark company 

* An instrument of strangulation, still commonly used in Spanish execution. 
It consists of a collar of iron, tightened by a screw around the throat of the 
sufferer, and eflecting at the same time suffocation and crushing of the vertebrae. 

f The singular fact is related by one who was present, that the Inca's secret 
reason for acceding to this proposal was his belief that, if his body was not 
actually destroyed by fire, "the Sun, his father, would the next morning restore 
him to life!" Imagination could devise no circumstance more touching. 



324 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERtCA. 

who stood grimly around him, to whom he could look for the 
protection of his offspring? Perhaps he thought there was no 
other so competent to afford it, and that the wishes so solemnly 
expressed in that hour might meet with respect, even from his 
conqueror. Then, recovering his stoical bearing, which for a 
moment had been shaken, he submitted himself calmly to his 
fate, — while the Spaniards, gathering around, muttered their 
credos for the salvation of his soul ! Thus by the death of a 
vile malefactor perished the last of the Incas."* 

The next day, his obsequies, with pompous solemnity, were 
celebrated in the church — a solemnity somewhat disturbed by 
the tumultuous entrance of a great number of his wives and 
female relatives, avowing their intention to sacrifice themselves, 
according to custom, on his tomb. Several, despite the re- 
monstrances of the Christians, " laid violent hands on themselves, 
in the vain hope of accompanying their beloved lord to the 
bright mansions of the Sun." 

De Soto, on his return, learned with horror and amazement 
of the deed which had been perpetrated in his absence. He 
hastened to Pizarro, "and found him," says a contemporary 
writer, " exhibiting much sentiment, with a great felt hat clap- 
ped on his head, by way of mourning, and well pulled over 
his eyes." To the angry remonstrances of his officer, he an- 
swered that he had been too hasty, and laid the blame upon 
others. A scene of fierce recrimination ensued between the 
generals, the friar, and others accessary to the iniquitous deed 
— each endeavoring to shift the responsibility on to the rest; a 
sufficient confession that their crime was utterly indefensible. 

Thus ends one of the very darkest pages of Spanish and 
American history. No reader of feeling or reflection will re- 
quire comment on a deed bearing in its face the brand of sucli 
odious perfidy, ingratitude, and cruelty. In return for his own 
good faith, for the submission of his empire, for the surrender 
of unhoped treasure, the unhappy victim met with imprison- 
ment, chains, and the sentence to a cruel and revolting death. 

* Prescott's Conquest of Peru. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 825 

Despite his pompous affectation of regret (remorse he may well 
have felt) the burden of this damning infamy rests almost en- 
tirely on the head of Pizarro. Whatever instruments he em- 
ployed, the deed was his own — a deed which could never have 
been committed by any but such as himself — men naturally 
fierce, rapacious and cruel, uneducated, save in the superstitions 
of a wretched dogmatism, and trained from childhood to scenes 
of blood, oppression, and violence. Doubtless a dark and cruel 
policy was his main and prompting motive; but it is said that 
the incentive of personal pique was not wanting. The im- 
prisoned Inca, delighting in the mysterious art of writing, 
(which he regarded as a new sense) had. caused the name of 
God to be inscribed on his nail, and presented it to each of 
the soldiers, charmed with their ready and concurrent response. 
Pizarro, who had never learned to read, was unable to answer 
him — and the ill-concealed contempt of the Inca, it is said, 
awakened a hatred in the heart of his conqueror, that ere long 
found its bloody gratification. 

To one who, like the ancient Greek, believes in an avenging 
Nemesis, there is something very comfortable in recalling the 
violent deaths which befell nearly all the actors in this doleful 
tragedy — though little reflection is needed to show that the 
evil wishes and undisciplined passions which prompted the 
crime, only worked out their legitimate end in involving its 
authors in fresh and fatal adventures. 

Old Purchas (abating one or two mistakes in fact, such as the 
complicity of Soto) gives, in a few words, a more terse and 
edifying version of their end than any writer on the subject: 
"But God the righteous ludge, seeing this villainous act, suf- 
fered none of those Spaniards to die by the course of Nature, 
but brought them to euill and shamefull ends. * * * 
His" (Atahuallpa's) "Murtherers dyed, as is said, the like 
bloudy ends; Almagro was executed by Picarro, and hee slaine 
by yong Almagro ; and him Vacca de Castra did likewise put 
to death. lohn Pi^.arro was slaine of the Indians. Martin an 
other of the Brethren was slaine with Francis. Ferdinandus 



826 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

was imprisoned in Spaine and his end vnknowne; Gonzales 
was done to death by Oasca. Soto dyed of thought in Florida ; 
and ciuill warres eate vp the rest in Peru."* 



CHAPTER IX. 

CONDITION OF PERU MARCH TO CUZCO — FIGHT WITH THE INDIANS 

EXECUTION OF CHALLCUCHIMA ENTRANCE INTO CUZCO FRESH PLUN- 
DER OF TREASURE CORONATION OF THE INCA MANCO CAPAC 

FOUNDATION OF LIMA RECEPTION OF HERNANDO IN SPAIN 

DISPUTES OF ALMAGRO AND THE PIZARROS. 

The death of the Inca was the signal for a general disruption 
of the Peruvian empire. Ilis subjects, accustomed for genera- 
tions to rely implicitly on the guidance and command of a 
single ruler, found themselves without a head, and committed 
the excesses which attend a sudden relief from long-accustomed 
restraint. Many of the nobles set up governments of their 
own, and a species of anarchy prevailed throughout Peru. 

Pizarro, with what ceremony he could, invested with the 
royal dignity a youth named Toparca, a brother of his victim ; 
and then, with five hundred Spaniards, and a large retinue of 
Indians, set out for Cuzco. They reached Xauxa without 
molestation ; and there defeated, with much slaughter, a large 
body of Indians drawn up to oppose them. Here Pizarro 
halted, and sent forward De Soto, with sixty horse, to recon- 
noitre the route. That adventurous cavalier, after a fatiguing 
march, was attacked on the sierra of Vilcaconga by a force of 
Indians, with such fury and resolution, that all the courage 
and discipline of the mounted cavaliers barely saved them 
from defeat. A number were killed, and the remainder were 

* Valverde, perhaps as culpable as any, gained the bishopric of Cuzco, the 
grand object of Ina ambition ; but a few years after perished, with others, in 
a massacre by the Indians. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 327 

preserved only by the timely arrival of Almagro, with the rest 
of the cavalry, at sight of which the enemy retired. 

Pizarro, suspecting his prisoner Challcuchima of secretly 
encouraging these hostilities, assured hirn that if the Peruvians 
did not lay down their arms, he should be burned alive — 
a brutal menace, to which his captive opposed the sullen and 
obdurate silence of the Indian. He then marched on, and 
effected a junction with the cavalry, and, after the usual tra- 
vesty of a trial, inflicted the cruel punishment he had threat- 
ened. To the exhortations of Valverde, at the stake, the old 
chief answered, coldly, "I do not understand the religion of 
the white men." He perished with the customary fortitude of 
his race, invoking with his last breath the name of Pachacamac. 

On this march, Toparca died, and soon afterwards, to the 
surprise of Pizarro, a young noble of high rank, with a great 
retinue, presented himself at the Spanish quarters. He was 
the Prince Manco Capac, brother of the ill-fated Huascar. 
He claimed the throne of the Incas by right of succession, and 
the general, seeing the advantage of sustaining the shadow of 
an Inca, answered favorably to his pretensions. 

On the 15th of November, 1533, the Spanish army and its 
long train of Indian attendants filed into Cuzco, the ancient 
and renowned capital of the Incas. A countless multitude of 
natives had assembled to watch their entrance; and all gazed 
with dread and amazement upon the war-horses, the glittering 
mail, and the white countenances of the mysterious strangers. 
Pizarro took up his quarters in one of the royal palaces, and 
his men were disposed, with strict order and discipline, in 
readiness to resist an assault. 

At this • distance of time, and from the discordant accounts 
of the conquerors, it is impossible to form an accurate estimate 
of the population of Cuzco. It probably amounted to some 
hundreds of thousands, and exhibited the tokens of greater 
order, comfort, and civilization than the Spaniards had yet 
seen in the New World. Many of the edifices were of stone, 
admirably wrought, and a strong fortification, on a great rock, 



328 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

overlooked the whole. The streets were paved, and a canal 
of pure water, faced with stone for twenty leagues, ran through 
the heart of the city. 

The temples and palaces were forthwith plundered anew by 
the licentious soldiery, who did not spare even the grave it- 
self, but stript the royal mummies of their jewels and rich 
ornaments. The unfortunate citizens were tortured to extract 
their knowledge of secret hoards. Among other valuables, 
were found a number of hollow statues of women and of 
llamas, as large as life, composed of gold and silver, "which 
only to look at," says a rapacious spectator, " was truly a great 
satisfaction." Large masses of silver, in bars, were likewise 
discovered. 

But the great mass of the Peruvian treasure, despite their 
cruelty and sacrilege, for ever escaped the clutches of the insa- 
tiate conquerors. Riches of inestimable value, it is said, were 
buried or concealed throughout the country by the oppressed 
natives, who had the satisfaction of secretly enjoying the rapa- 
cious search and disappointment of their oppressors. It has 
been said that the spoil of Cuzco exceeded the ransom of Ata- 
huallpa, but, according to the best authorities, it appears to 
have been considerably less. Only six or seven millions of 
dollars were allowed in accounting with the crown, whose in- 
terests, however, may have suffered somewhat from the remiss- 
ness of its agents. A division was made, as before, and the 
dice-box, as usual, put into immediate requisition. So great 
and so sudden was the abundance of wealth, that every article 
of European use or luxury was held at prices to which Califor- 
nian extravagance can hardly furnish the shadow of a parallel. 

The inauguration of the young Inca was performed, with 
the accustomed solemnities, and as much of magnificence as 
the spoliation of royalty and religion would permit; and the 
mummies of his ancestors, according to immemorial usage, 
were seated at the inaugural banquet, and served with the 
most ceremonial attention. A Spanish municipality was im- 
mediately established, and the palaces and other public edi- 



CONQUEST OF PEKU. 829 

fices were bestowed on his followers by Pizarro, wbo now 
assumed the title of governor. Churclies were erected, and 
the conversion of the natives, afterwards so successfully com- 
pleted, was at once undertaken. 

In the midst of his successes, the jealousy of the victor was 
aroused by news that Alvarado, the companion of Cortes, 
and the fierce conqueror of Guatemala, had landed on the 
coast, and was marching to Quito. But that reckless adven- 
turer, in a terrible march across the mountains, lost a fourth 
.part of his force, which had consisted of five hundred men, 
and two thousand of his Indian auxiliaries. Thus weakened, 
and seeing no prospect of acquiring treasure, he agreed to quit 
the country on payment of a large sum for his fleet and muni- 
tions of war — being left, however, a considerable loser by the 
expedition. 

After some unimportant insurrections, easily suppressed by 
the whites, all Peru, apparently, settled down in obedience to 
the nominal sway of the Inca and the actual despotism of the 
Spaniards. Pizarro now perceived the necessity of a Spanish 
capital for his vast domains, and accordingly, after a careful 
survey, selected the beautiful valley of Eimac, on the coast, 
not far from Pachacamac. Here, in January, 1535, he com- 
menced the erection of a stately city, which he called Giddad 
de los Beyes, (City of the Kings,) but which, with a slight 
change, still bears the original name of the valley. The In- 
dians, for more than a hundred miles around, were summoned 
to labor at the task; palace, cathedral, and public building 
rose rapidly from the earth, and Lima, as it is now called, still 
remains a splendid testimony of the foresight of Pizarro, the 
grandeur of his plans, and the solidity of their execution. 

His brother, Hernando, in January, 1532, had arrived in 
Spain, with an immense treasure, the property of the crown 
and of private adventurers. A great sensation was produced 
by the actual view of the masses of precious metal, and the 
beautiful forms into which it was wrought; and the emperor, 
absorbed in expensive schemes of ambition, viewed with dc- 



330 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

light tlic prospect of supplies to his exhausted treasury. He 
readily confirmed and extended the powers and honors already 
bestowed on the Pizarros; and by way of compensation to 
Almagro, gave him authority to conquer and govern a district 
of country extending two hundred leagues south of that as- 
signed to his partner. Attracted by the splendid trophies of 
Peruvian enterprise, great numbers flocked to the standard of 
Hernando; and he set sail with a gallant armament to join 
his brothers.' 

This force, however, was detained with much loss at the 
isthmus, the scene of such repeated delay and sufferings — saf- 
erings which, even with all the means and appliances of civili- 
zation, have in our own day proved fatal to so many eager 
adventurers to those golden shores of which it is the gateway. 

Almagro, who was in command of Cuzco, on receiving news 
of his separate command, conducted himself with much arro- 
gance, insisting that the city lay within the limits assigned to 
himself; and his rapacious followers inflicted great injuries 
upon the citizens, seizing their dwellings and property at their 
pleasure, and conducting theinselves as in a town taken by 
storm. Pizarro, alarmed in his new capital by reports of these 
disorders, hastened to Cuzco, where his brothers, supported by 
their faction, were on the point of engaging in a civil war 
with his rival. A hollow treaty between the two governors 
was patched up, and both parties solemnly imprecated the 
curses of Heaven on their heads, if either should fail in faith 
or friendship to the other. Their mutual distrust, however, 
was sufficiently evinced by an article stipulating that neither 
should asperse or disparage the other, in their dispatches to 
the emperor (June, 1535). 

Their quarrel thus insecurely hushed up, the rivals parted, 
Pizarro to superintend the erection of his rising city of Lima, 
and Almagro on a long and venturous expedition for the 
conquest of Chili. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 831 



CHAPTER!. 

ESCAPE OF THE INCA MANCO GENERAL RISING OF THE PERUVIANS 

SIEGE AND BURNING OF CUZCO — DEFEATS AND MASSACRES OF THE 

^ SPANIARDS THE SIEGE OF CUZCO RAISED THE RETURN OF 

ALMAGRO IMPRISONMENT OF THE PIZARROS — BATTLE 

BETWEEN THE RIVAL FACTIONS DEFEAT AND EXE- 
CUTION OF ALMAGRO — FATE OF HERNANDO. 

The Peruvians had hitherto, for the most part, appeared 
submissive to outrage and enslavement. Their minds, prob- 
ably, were confused and appalled by the sudden appearance 
and wonderful success of their oppressors; while, accustomed 
to implicit obedience, their allegiance was still apparently 
given to the nominal Inca, though deprived of all but the 
shadow of power. That prince, high-spirited and ambitious, 
had for some time been convinced that the Spaniards meant 
only to use him as a tool for their own purposes. His person 
and authority were treated with contempt, and he took the 
bold and patriotic resolution of exciting a general rising 
against the 'bppressors. He had sent his brother, and the 
High-priest of the Sun, with Almagro, on a friendly pretext, 
but in reality to insure the cooperation of the distant caciques. 

He withdrew quietly from Cuzco, but, the suspicions of the 
Spaniards being aroused, was brought back and placed in close 
confinement. The hopes of Peruvian enfranchisement now 
seemed at an end, but the captive, with true Indian boldness 
and wariness, left no means untried to regain his freedom. 
To ingratiate himself with Hernando, who was now in com- 
mand of the native capital, he successively disclosed to him 
the existence of several hoards of treasure, which had been 
secreted by his people; and having thus gained his confidence, 
inflamed his cupidity by describing a statue of his i^ither, 
Huayna Capac, of pure gold, which he said was concealed in 
a cave among the Andes. 

To secure this precious relic, (probably his own invention,) 



332 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

lie was suffered to depart, with a couple of Spaniards, but re- 
turned no more. Juan Pizarro, who, with sixty horse, was 
dispatched in pursuit of him, was soon encountered by an 
army of several thousand Indians, who, with the Inca at their 
head, were drawn up to oppose him. After several desperate 
engagements, in which the Spaniards performed prodigies of 
valor, and succeeded in repeatedly repulsing the foe, he was 
recalled to Cuzco by the alarming tidings that the capital itself 
was besieged. He hastened back, hotly pursued by the Peru- 
vians, who, with their "songs of hell," hung closely on his 
rear, and approached the city. As far as the eye could reach, 
it was surrounded by a countless host of Peruvian warriors, 
and the air was resplendent with the flashing of copper-headed 
spears and axes. This vast body, (it is said two hundred 
thousand strong,) opening their ranks, suffered the little band 
of cavalry to pass through them and enter the city. It is 
probable that they wished to have as many of the enemy as 
possible entrapped in a situation from which there could be no 
escape (February, 1536). 

All night the myriad watch-fires of the besiegers shone "like 
nothing but a clear sky, right fully covered with stars," and 
in the morning they commenced the assault by discharging 
showers of missiles into the city. With burning arrows they 
fired the roofs, and Cuzco was soon wrapped in conflagration. 
The fire raged for several days, and consumed at least half of 
the ancient capital of Peru. 

When it was over, the Spaniards, whose whole force did 
not exceed two hundred, with a thousand Indian auxiliaries, 
sallying from their stronghold, made a desperate charge on the 
besiegers, and slew great numbers. The natives fought well, 
but nothing could effectively resist the charge of the Spanisli 
cavalry. They gained possession, however, of the great for- 
tress overlooking the city, whence they annoyed the besieged 
with showers of missiles. The}'' also threw a number of human 
heads among the Spaniards, who recognized with horror the 
faces of their friends, dwelling in the adjoining regions, and 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 333 

w"ho thus perceived that the rising was general. The latter 
continued, however, to defend themselves stoutly, and by an 
unexpected sally, from three points, did great mischief to their 
foes. Several of the Indians were seen mounted on horses, 
with European armor, which they had taken from the Span- 
iards, and the young Inca, on a fine war-horse, 'with a long 
lance, appeared in the first ranks of the battle. 

Hernando had resolved, at whatever cost, to regain posses- 
sion of the citadel; and, marching secretly in the night, came 
upon the garrison by surprise. The post was taken by storm, 
but with the loss of Juan Pizarro, the most amiable and popular 
of the brothers. The Inca noble who commanded it, a man 
of Herculean frame and dauntless courage, defended the last 
tower with desperate resolution, striking down his enemies 
with a huge copper-headed mace, or hurling them one by one 
from the top of the ladders. Overcome by numbers, and see- 
ing resistance vain, he threw away his weapon, and, wrap- 
ping his mantle around him, flung himself headlong from the 
battlements. 

The insurrection had been general, and Lima itself had been 
besieged by the Indians, who, however, were severely chas- 
tised by the governor. Several hundreds of the Spaniards, in 
various settlements, had been massacred. Pizarro had made 
repeated attempts to relieve his brothers at Cuzco, and, at dif- 
ferent times, had dispatched four hundred men to their assist- 
ance. None of these, however, reached their destination. 
Attacked by the Indians in the wild passes of the Cordilleras, 
they had been successively cut off — in some instances, to a 
man. Pizarro, almost in despair, sent letters, entreating assist- 
ance, to the governors of Guatemala, Mexico, and other prov- 
inces, even offering to share with them the conquests which 
might thereafter be made — sure proof of the extremity to 
which he was reduced. 

For five months the dauntless little garrison of Cuzco had 
held out against the overwhelming force of their enemies, and 
the Indians, who still kept up the blockade, began to sufibr 



834 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

from want of supplies. The Inca, tlierefore, for the present, 
disbanded his forces, that they might attend to the planting of 
the annual crop, and himself withdrew to Tambo, a strong 
fortification at no great distance from the city. Hostilities, 
however, still continued, and many desperate skirmishes were 
fought in the environs. 

Hernando, ever on the alert, now resolved on a vigorous 
effort to end the war, by seizing the person of the Inca. With 
eighty cavalry, and some foot, he marched suddenly to Tambo, 
and came upon the fortress by surprise. In the darkness of 
early morning he assailed this almost impregnable position; but 
the garrison, which was very large, was speedily on the alert, 
and Manco himself, on his war-horse, appeared, directing the 
defence. After three unsuccessful assaults, the Spaniards were 
driven back, and were glad, by a forced march, annoyed by 
the enemy, to regain their quarters. 

Almagro, as we have seen, had set forth on an expedition 
for the conquest of Chili. In the tremendous solitudes of tbe 
Andes, his men had suffered terribly from cold and privation, 
and had inflicted the most odious cruelties on the unfortunate 
natives whom they subdued. On one occasion, it is said, the 
ferocious commander caused thirty Indian chiefs to be burned 
alive, to atone for the death of three of his followers. He 
penetrated about a hundred leagues to the southward, and 
then, despondent of treasure or renown, turned homewards. 
He took the route by the coast which leads over the arid 
desert of Atacama, and underwent, with his people, the most 
fearful extremities. The adventurers finally approached Cuz- 
co, and in the valley of Yucay, with a portion of his force, 
the general defeated the Inca, who had fallen on him with a 
great body of warriors. He now determined to seize on Cuzco, 
which Hernando, with a small force of Spaniards, still com- 
manded. In a dark and stormy night, he entered the city, 
took the garrison by surprise, and seized the persons of Her- 
nando and Gonzalo Pizarro (April, 1537). His lieutenant, 
Orgonez, begged him to strike off their heads, alleging that 



CONQUEST OF PEU L'. 335 

"The dead man does not bite," but Almagro recoiled from 
this extreme measure. Shortly after, marching out, he defeated 
one Alvarado, a general of Pizarro's, and brought him prisoner, 
with nearly all his men, five hundred in number, to the city. 

Pizarro, in his capital, heard, with the greatest alarm, of 
these losses, but was unable, for the time, to revenge them. 
Espinosa, one of the prime movers of the original expedition, 
had lately arrived at Lima, with a considerable reinforcement, 
to assist the colonists against the Indians, and was now dis- 
patched to Cuzco, to attempt negotiation with the successful 
chief The dread of Indian hostilities, for a time, seemed 
ended — Manco, with only one of his numerous wives, having 
been compelled to take refuge in the savage recesses of the 
Andes. But 'the good offices of Espinosa proved fruitless, for 
the time, and the deadliest animosity between the rival factions 
ensued. Gonzalo and Alvarado, indeed, escaped from their 
imprisonment, but the life of Hernando, still in the hands of 
the victor, hung only by a single thread. 

At length negotiations were resumed, and it was agreed that 
the matters in dispute between Almagro and the Pizarros 
should be referred to the arbitration of a friar, named Boba- 
dilla. A personal interview, broken off" by angry recrimina- 
tion, took place between the chiefs, and the friar decided every 
point in favor of his patron, Pizarro, "proving himself a very 
devil," says one of the losers, and giving, says a more impar- 
tial authority, "the most unjust sentence that had been pro- 
nounced, since the time of Pontius Pilate." 

But Pizarro, to save the life of his brother, who was still 
held in strict confinement, consented to more liberal conditions, 
meaning to revenge himself the first opportunity. Hernando 
was released, and the governor, violating his pledges, instantly 
renewed the war, dispatching the late captive, with a force of 
seven hundred men, against his rival. The latter, with five 
hundred, encountered him, not far from the city of Cuzco; 
but, overcome with old age and maladies — the result of his 
sins — was unable to lead his men to combat. He surveyed 



336 NOliTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the scene from a litter, while Orgonez, a brave and fiery cava- 
lier, commanded the little army. The battle was bloody in 
the extreme, two hundred being killed on the field. The vic- 
tory fell to Hernando; and Orgonez, with other cavaliers, was 
cruelly murdered after the surrender (April, 1538). The ut- 
most rancor and malice appears to have animated the contend- 
ing factions. Almagro, who, with indescribable anguish, had 
witnessed the defeat of his veterans, was made prisoner. 

Hernando, dreading lest his revenge should be disappointed 
by a natural death, used every means to restore his victim 
and to encourage the hope of life. Meanwhile, a process, 
spreading over two thousand pages, was hatched up against 
him, and, after the usual ceremony of a trial, he was sentenced 
to execution. On learning his fate, he piteously begged for 
life — a strange example in one who had always been noted for 
his daring, and whose face was scarred to deformity by the 
wounds of a hundred battles. After receiving the sacrament, 
he was privately garroted in his dungeon. 

Having achieved this sanguinary success, Hernando, with a 
great treasure, embarked for Spain, to fortify the interests of 
his family, and take precautions lest they should be called to 
account for their late violent and high-handed measures. 
Taking the circuitous route of Mexico, he was a considerable 
time in reaching Spain, and did not present himself before the 
emperor until two years after the death of his victim. He met 
a cold reception, but trusted that his treasures, dealt with a 
liberal hand among the officers of the court, would bear him 
out. He was mistaken. The influence of an attached follower 
of Almagro outweighed his own and that of all his wealth. 
He was confined in a strong fortress, where for twenty years he 
lived iu close imprisonment. In 1560, he was released, an im- 
poverished man. All his brothers were dead, and Peru was i n 
the hands of strangers. He survived to the age of a hundied, 
a rare example of justice, in Spain, executed on a wealthy and 
powerful offender. 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 387 

• CHAPTER XI. 

RENEWED HOSTILITY OF THE INCA EXPEDITION OF GONZALO PIZARRO — 

ARRIVAL AT THE NAPO VOYAGE OF ORELLANA DOWN THE AMAZON 

TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS AND LOSS OF GONZALO AND HIS PEOPLE 

THEIR DISASTROUS RETURN ARROGANCE OF THE GOVERNOR 

"THE MEN OF CHILI " THEIR POVERTY AND DISTRESS 

THEIR DESPERATE RESOLUTION — ASSASSINATION OF 
PIZARRO HIS CHARACTER SEQUEL. 

In these civil wars, the unhappy Peruvians, as may be sup- 
posed, had suffered severely, their allegiance being often claimed 
by two sets of masters, each ready to retort with savage ven- 
geance any sign of disaffection. The Inca, taking advantage 
of the general confusion, gathered a strong force, and sallying 
from his eyrie in the mountains, did much mischief to his em- 
barrassed foes — in one instance, cutting off a force of thirty 
troopers to a man. He maintained a desultory warfare for 
some time, and, knowing the treacherous nature of the enemy, 
held aloof from negotiation, Pizarro, with a miserable and 
infernal revenge, tortured to death a young and beautiful wo- 
man, a favorite wife of the Inca, who had fallen into his hands. 
"It seems to me," writes one of the conquerors, "that our Lord 
punished him for this in the end he met." 

Despite atrocities like these, the country, by the wise policy 
of Pizarro, became speedily settled with Europeans, and towns 
and settlements sprang up with rapidity, in various directions. 
Gonzalo Pizarro, to whom the command of Quito had been 
assigned, was a cavalier of great boldness and enterprise, and, 
immediately on assuming his new government, made extensive 
preparations for discovery in the cast. In 1540, with three 
hundred and fifty Spaniards and four thousand Indians, he set 
forth for the unexplored regions of the interior. 

After a terrible passage, in the rainy season, over the Andes, 
he reached the fjxmous Land of Cinnamon, and was lured far- 
ther still by reports of golden realms to the eastward. The 
22 



338 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

adventurers pressed on, suffering dreadfully from faniiuc, and 
at last came upon the Napo, one of the upper tributaries of the 
majestic Amazon. A vast herd of swine, which they had taken 
with them, as well as a thousand dogs for Indian warfare, had 
all been lost or devoured, and famine stared them in the face. 
AVild roots, toads, serpents, and such loathsome reptiles, with 
the leather of their saddles and belts, were their only sustenance. 

After pursuing this stream, with incredible difficult}^, for 
some distance, Pizarro resolved on constructing a vessel to 
assist in the descent. By the constant labor of two months, a 
brigantine was completed, the shoes of the horses being con- 
verted into nails, and the ragged garments of the soldiers into 
oakum. Aboard this vessel he put Francisco de Orellana, with 
directions to proceed down the river, and procure provisions 
for his suffering comrades. 

Week after week elapsed, and no succor came. The Span- 
iards again took up their march along the tangled and precip- 
itous banks of the river. Two months of dreadful suffering 
and exertion brought them to its confluence with the Amazon. 
Here they found a solitary white man, who had been set ashore 
by Orellana. That cavalier, borne onward by a furious current, 
had reached the Amazon three days after his departure. He 
had found scarcely any supplies, and it was impossible to make 
head against the current to return. Abandoning, therefore, 
his companions to their fate, he sailed down the Amazon, and 
after a voyage, one of the most wonderful on record, reached the 
sea, and held his course for Spain. There, his fanciful reports 
enabled him to raise a band of five hundred adventurers, with 
whom he set sail for the great river. But he Avas not destined 
to enjoy the fruits of his discovery, dying on the passage, 
having achieved a strange mixture of renown and dishonor. 

The wearied and famine-stricken Spaniards, on learning their 
desertion, almost abandoned themselves to despair. It was 
more than a year since they had left Quito, and at least four 
hundred leagues of tangled wilderness and rocky Cordilleras 
lay between them and their homes. But no resource remained 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 339' 

except to retrace their steps. More than a year of cruel suffer- 
ing was consumed in this, and at length, in June, 1542, the 
remnants of the expedition, in a most forlorn and pitiable con- 
dition, reentered Quito. Only eighty of the Spaniards and 
one-half their allies had survived to return. Thus ended an 
expedition, the most remarkable for its endurance, and the 
most terrible for its sufferings, of any in the annals of America. 

Pizarro, after the execution of his rival, had conducted him- 
self with all the insolence of a conqueror. He entered Cuzco 
in triumph, wearing a splendid suit v/hich he had lately re- 
ceived from Cortes, and laid down the law like an absolute 
dictator. To those who urged the rights of young Almagro, 
the son of his victim, "the governor answered right sharply-, 
that his own government had no limit, and that it covered all 
on this side Flanders." The estates of the defeated faction 
("the Men of Chili" as they were called) were coniSscated, and 
distributed among his followers ; and such enormous territories 
and repartiarnentos were lavished on his brothers, that even his 
own partizans murmured. 

The shattered remains of the Almagran party, with the young 
chief (son of their general by an Indian) to whose fortunes they 
still faithfully adhered, in time found their way to Lima, where 
all their efforts for redress or satisfaction were treated with 
undisguised contempt. To such poverty had they sunk, 
amid all the wealth of Peru, that, it is said, twelve of these for- 
lorn hidalgos^ lodging together, could muster but a single cloak, 
which they wore abroad by turns — the pride of the Spanish 
cavalier not* permitting him to appear without this necessary 
appendage to gentility. Their desperate state of mind was 
aggravated by the taunts and ridicule of the successful faction, 
and the governor, as he rode carelessly through the streets, often 
met with sinister looks and sombreros stoutly fixed on the 
head. To all the warnings which he received, and all the sug- 
gestions to rid himself of this dangerous nucleus of sedition, 
he answered, with tlie carelessness of power and courage, 
"Poor devils! they have had bad luck enough. We will not 



840 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

trouble them further." To renewed remonstrances, he answered 
haughtily, "Be in no concern .about my life. It is safe enough, 
so long as every man in Peru knows that I can in a moment 
cut off any head that dares to harbor a thought against it." 

At length the ruined faction was reduced to despair by a 
report that Vaca de Castro, who had been appointed by the 
crown to do justice in the colonies, was lost at sea on his pas- 
sage. The principal cavaliers now came to the desperate res- 
olution of redressing their own wrongs by the assassination of 
their oppressor. Some twenty of them, on Sunday, June 26th, 
1541, assembled at the house of Almagro, resolved to fall upon 
the governor as he returned from hearing the mass. 

The whole plot, strange to say, leaked out through the scru- 
ples of one of the conspirators, who revealed it in confession 
to his priest. The startling tidings were instantly communi- 
cated to Pizarro, who, however, answered coldly, "This priest 
wants a bishopric," evidently supposing the whole story to 
be a fabrication for the purpose of ingratiating the informants 
with himself. Still he resolved not uselessly to incur the 
threatened danger, and accordingly on the appointed day re- 
mained at home, under pretext of indisposition. 

Great was the consternation of the conspirators at the foilure 
of their opportunity. Pizarro was evidently apprised of their 
plot, and their heads already seemed tottering on their shoul- 
ders. With the recklessness of desperation, they rushed into 
the street, crying, "Long live the king! death to the tj'-rant!" 
As they marched hastily across the great square to the palace 
of the governor, one Gomez Perez stepped aside' to avoid a 
puddle of water. The fierce Juan de Rada, their leader, turned 
abruptly, and said, " Are you afraid of wet feet, when we are 
going to bathe in human blood?" and ordered the too dainty 
conspirator instantly to return. 

Pizarro, at this time, was at dinner with a number of officials 
and cavaliers, about equal in number to the conspirators ; but 
they were unarmed, and several were men of peace. A terri- 
fied domestic ran into the house, crying " Help, help ! all tho 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 841 

Men of Chili are coming to murder the Marquis!" Most of 
the guests, at this alarm, fled precipitately, and made good their 
retreat into the garden. Pizarro coolly ordered Chaves, one 
of his officers, to keep the door, while he put on his armor. 
But that cavalier, taken by surprise, wildly demanded of the 
conspirators, who had reached the head of the stairs, what they 
meant and where they were going. They answered by stabbing 
him and flinging his body down the stairs. 

Martin de Alcantara, the half-brother of Pizarro, was assist- 
ing the latter to buckle on his armor. Seeing that the ante- 
chamber was gained by the conspirators, he sprang to the door 
of the apartment, and, with two of the governor's pages and 
one or two cavaliers, made a desperate defence. Two of the 
conspirators fell, but Alcantara, overpowered with the loss of 
blood, sank dying on the floor. Pizarro, who had vainly en- 
deavored to buckle on his cuirass, now flung it away, and 
wrapping his cloak around his left arm, sword in hand, sprang 
like a lion on his foes. "Ha! traitors!" he cried, "have you 
come to kill me in my own house ! Courage, my friends ; we 
are yet enough to make them repent their audacity." 

The chamber rang with the clashing of swords, and two more 
of the conspirators speedily fell before the sinewy arm of the 
infuriated old Conqueror, But his faithful pages were both 
soon stretched by his side, and Rada, thrusting one of his 
companions forward, to receive the death stroke of the governor, 
made room for several weapons which struck him to the earth. 
"A confessor, for the love of God!" murmured the dying man. 
But none was at hand, and as the swords of the assassins were 
pointed at his body, he cried "Jesu!" and tracing a cross on 
the floor with his finger in his own blood, and trying to kiss 
it, fell lifeless before repeated blows. " He died," says a Spanish 
author, " without confession, and without a soul to say for him, 
'God forgive thee!'" 

The assassins, like those of Csesar, rushed into the street, 
brandishing their bloody weapons, and cried aloud, "The tyrant 
is dead! long live our master the emperor and his governor, 



842 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Almagro!" The Men of Chili, three hundred in number, ral- 
lied around them; young Almagro was solemnly proclaimed 
governor; and the blood-cemented fabric of the brothers, for 
a time, was levelled to the earth. The remains of the victim, 
wrapped in a cotton cloth, by the light of a few tapers, were 
huddled into an obscure grave in a corner of the cathedral — 
the only attendants being his wife and a few of his black ser- 
vants. His bones, however, were afterwards removed, and 
were placed in a more honorable position, with a monument 
suitable to his rank; and his portrait still heads the long file 
of Peruvian viceroys, depicted in the great hall of the palace, 
by far the most striking, both in its appearance and associations. 

Thus, at the age of about sixty-five, perished Francisco 
Pizarro, the Conqueror of Peru, the most remarkable and per- 
haps the worst man of that host of discoverers and conquerors 
by whom the early history of America has been illustrated and 
disgraced. His career forms the best commentary on his char- 
acter. Ambition and rapacity appear to have been his ruling 
traits; but he was not avaricious, for his immense acquisitions 
were devoted not merely to his own aggrandizement, but to 
the nobler office of building cities, settling colonies, and laying 
the foundations of an empire. Though bigoted in the extreme, 
he had none of that crusading zeal which so eminently distin- 
guished Cortes, and he was far more anxious to seize the trea- 
sures and to enslave the bodies of the Indians than to convert 
their souls. Doubtless, he was as brave as a man can be, and 
possessed of a fortitude and perseverance perhaps surpassing 
that of any character recorded in history. But he was cruel, 
remorseless, and perfidious to the very extremest degree; and 
his name has ever been held in deserved execration by the 
great majority of mankind. 

Many years ago (it is said) it was proposed to erect a column 
to his memory at his native place, Truxillo ; on which occasion, 
the poet Southey produced the following just inscription: 

" Pizarro Jiere was born; a greater Name 
The lists of glory boast not; toil and pain, 



CONQUEST OF PERU. 843 

Fnmine and hostile elements, and hosts 

Embattled, failed to check him in his course; 

Not to be weaned, not to he deterred, ' 

Not to be overcome. A miglity realm 

He overran, and with relentless arms 

Slew or enslaved its unoffending sons. 

And wealth, and power, and fame, were his rewards. 

There is anotlier world beyond the grave. 

According to their deeds where men are judged. 

O, reader! if thy dnily bread be earned 

By daily labour, — yea, however low, 

However wretched be thy lot assigned, 

Thank tliou, with deepest gratitude, the God 

Who made thee, that thou art not such as he." 



The death of Pizarro was the signal for the breaking out of 
fresh civil wars, which our limits will not allow us to describe. 
Almagro, after a brief period of authority and triumph, was 
vanquished by Yaca de Castro, and, with a great number of 
his adherents, suffered execution. The faction of Chili became 
extinct. The victor was, in his turn, imprisoned by Blasco 
Nunez Vela, who, in 1544, came out with the appointment of 
viceroy; and the unfortunate Inca, Manco Capac, was mur- 
dered by a small party of Spaniards, who, after sustaining a 
defeat in the civil wars, had taken refuge in his camp. With 
him perished the national spirit of the Peruvians, who, thence- 
forth, with scarcely an effort at resistance, were enslaved and 
exterminated by cruel labors, at the pleasure of their conquerors. 

The viceroy, ere long, fell before the power of an adverse 
faction, and Gonzalo Pizarro, by his prompt and energetic 
action, secured the undisputed mastery of Peru. Blasco Nu- 
nez, who attempted to regain his authority, was defeated, and 
perished on the field of battle. The Spanish government 
next dispatched Pedro dc la Gasca, a man of great judgment 



344 NOilTJI AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and shrewdness, to assume the viceroyalty and assert its au- 
thority. After a series of intrigues, negotiations, and cam- 
paigns, lasting more than a year, Gonzalo, in 1548, was defeated 
by the officer of the crown, and, as usual, with his chief adhe- 
rents, suffered execution. The administration of the victor 
was distinguished by pacification of the country, relief of the 
oppressions of the natives, and a confirmation to the Spanish 
crown of its most valuable American dependency. 




J U.IJV^ P O .V C F. 1) /■; l.KO A', 

SEARCHING FOR THE KOr.VTAIX OF YOUTH. 



THE DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA, 



CHAPTER I. 

CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO, BY PONCE DE LEON — HIS VOYAGE IN SEARCH 

OF THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH — DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA HIS SECOND 

EXPEDITION AND DEATH THE ATTEMPT OF AYLLON OF 

NARVAEZ INGENIOUS SHIP-BUILDING DESTRUCTION 

OF THE EXPEDITION. 

Amoxg the adventurers who flocked to the standard of 
Columbus, on his memorable second expedition, (1493,) was 
Juan Ponce de Leon, a soldier well versed in Moorish warfare. 
Having made himself conspicuous in the Indian wars of Ilis- 
paniola, he was, on the subjugation of that island, appointed 
commander over the province of Higuey. In 1508, he made 
a reconnoitering expedition to the island of Boriquen, (Porto 
Rico,) whose verdant mountains lay directly opposite his do- 
mains. Attracted by the beauty and wealth of the island, he 
obtained a royal appointment as governor over it, and in 1509 
made a settlement there. The usual oppression of the Indians, 
as a matter of course, soon commenced ; and they were at first 
deterred from resistance by a belief that their oppressors were 
supernatural beings, incapable of being killed, 

A certain cacique, however, of an inquiring turn of mind, 
resolved to try the experiment; and, with mingled terror and 
satisfaction, succeeded in drowning a young Spaniard, whom 
his people were carrying across a stream. The body was 

* Among the early historians of American discovery, the name Florida 
was applied to a vast extent of country, embracing nearly all the eastern por- 
tion of the continent, between Canada and Mexico. 



346 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

watclied until it putrefied, and then, all doubts being laid, a 
general conspiracy for the destruction of the invaders was 
agreed on. It met, at first, with complete success. All the 
villages of the Spaniards were taken by surprise; an hundred 
of the colonists were slain ; and the remainder were compelled 
to take refuge in the fortress. At length, being reinforced, 
they sallied forth, and renewed hostilities; and Ponce de Leon, 
by his valor and generalship, soon reduced the island to com- 
plete subjection and slavery. 

Hardly had he succeeded in this enterprise, when the com- 
mon fate of rising Spanish adventurers overtook him. He 
was deprived of his command, and, in his old age, was com- 
pelled to seek some other field for the display of his yet un- 
quenchable energy. In this strait, his imagination was won- 
derfully excited by the stories of certain old Indians, who 
told him that, far in the north, there was a land abounding in 
gold, and containing a stream of such purity and virtue, that 
whoever bathed in it would be restored to the full vigor and 
beauty of youth. Many of the Indians of Cuba, they said, had 
gone there, in old times, and were supposed to be still enjoy- 
ing, in renovated youth, the delights of that enchanting region. 

Nothing can better illustrate the gorgeous and dreamy im- 
agination of the age, than the fact that this worldh', practical, 
and experienced man now embarked a great portion of his 
accumulated wealth in such a chimerical enterprise. lie fitted 
out three ships, manned them with volunteers, and on the 3d 
of March, 1512, set sail from Porto Kico in quest of the fairy- 
land, which was to replenish his coffers, and afford him youth 
to enjoy them. He touched at Guanahani, and made vain 
inquiries concerning the land of promise. Sailing onward, on 
the 27th he came in sight of a new land. Baffled, however, 
by adverse weather, he was unable to gain the shore until the 
night of the 2d of April, when he anchored a little way below the 
mouth of what is now called the St. John's river. He landed, 
and, in the name of the Spanish sovereigns, took possession of 
the country, to which, from its gay and llowery aspect, as well 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 847 

as from the discovery being made on Palm Sunday,* lie gave 
the beautiful and appropriate name of Florida. Sailing south- 
ward, he doubled Cape Canaveral, and, for several weeks, 
coasted along the shore, making way slowly against the Gulf 
Stream, But of the many streams and fountains with Avhich 
the land abounded, none seemed able to rejuvenate his weary 
frame, nor was any gold found glittering among their snowy 
sands. On the 14th of June, he turned his prow homewards, 
and, after a weary navigation, arrived, a disappointed man, 
in Porto Eico.f 

Thence he repaired to Spain, where the raillery of the court 
was in some measure compensated by a royal grant, appointing 
him adelantado of the newly-discovered region. In January, 
1515, he regained his office as governor of Porto Eico, and there 
he remained until excited to fresh adventure by the renown 
of the exploits of Cortes. Fitting out two vessels, in 1521, 
he again set sail from his island, and, after a tempestuous voy- 
age, again arrived at the Land of Promise. With a large 
force, he made a descent upon the coast. But the Indians, 
with unwonted courage, attacked their invaders, several of 
whom were slain. Ponce de Leon, wounded by an arrow, was 
carried on board his ship. He then set sail for Cuba, where, 
soon after his arrival, he expired, from the mingled effects of 
his wound and of an old age of disaster and disappointment. 
A Latin epitaph, of quaint conceit, chronicled his exploits: 

"Beneath this mound rest the bones of the valiant Lion" (Leonis), 
"Who in his deeds surpassed the names of the famous," 

The unfortunate discoverer of Florida, it has been truly re- 
marked, bequeathed his ill luck to his successors. A most 

* "Pascua Florida." 

f The expedition and its result are most tersely described by old Galvano, 
who says that Ponce " went to seeke the Isle of Boyuca, where the naturals 
of the Countrey reported to be a Wei, which maketh olde men yoong. 
Whereupon, he laboured to find it out, and was in searching of it the space 
of sixe moiu'thes, but couldn findp. no such thing." "There was never a spring 
or puddle but they drank of it," s;iys another, "but in vayne." 



348 ]S'OKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

disastrous expedition to Soutli Carolina, under Lucas Yasquez 
de Ayllon, succeeded — the leader, and nearly all his men, three 
hundred in number, being slain by the Indians. Another 
attempt for the subjugation of the country was made in 1528, 
by Pamphilo de Narvaez, already mentioned as defeated and 
captured, with the loss of an eye, by Cortes, in the Mexican 
town of Cempoalla. This ill-starred cavalier, with four hun- 
dred men, landed on the western coast of Florida, and, witli 
great difficulty, penetrated through the marshes and tangled 
forests to the village of Appalachee. In returning, disappointed 
in their hopes of treasure, nearly a third of his command per- 
ished from hunger, fatigue, and the hostilities of the Indians. 
The remainder lost their way, and were finally brought up by 
a great arm of the sea ; and, despairing of regaining their ships 
by land, resolved on the forlorn expedient of constructing rude 
vessels, and embarking in quest of them. The most patient 
and ingenious industry was exhibited in the strange and ardu- 
ous task of converting their little cavalcade into the semblance 
of a fleet. « 

"One of them constructed a pair of bellows out of deer- 
skins, furnishing it with a wooden pipe. Others made char- 
coal and a forge. By the aid of these they soon turned their 
stirrups, spurs, cross-bows, and other articles of iron, into nails, 
saws, and hatchets. The tails and manes of the horses, twisted 
with the fibres of the palm-tree, served for rigging: their shirts 
cut open and sewed together furnished sails; the fibrous part 
of the palm-tree also was used as oakum ; the resin of the pine- 
trees for tar; the skins of horses were made into vessels to 
contain fresh water ; and a quantity of maize was M^on by hard 
fighting from the neighboring nations."* 

Five crazy barks were at length completed, and, with forty 
or fifty men crowded in each, the little squadron set sail. They 
endured terrible hardships in their voyage along the coast, and 
finally all their vessels were dispersed and swallowed up by 
tempests. Five men only survived the expedition. These 
* Irving's Conquest of Florida. 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 849 

were Alvar ISTunez and four others, who, getting to the shore, 
took up their march to tjie westward. Passing from tribe to 
tribe, often kept as slaves, they gradually worked their way to 
Mexico, having crossed the great Kiver Mississippi, besides 
almost innumerable others, and having consumed nearly ten 
years in this terrible and unprecedented journey. 



CHAPTER II. 

HERNANDO DE SOTO — HIS RETURN TO SPAIN APPOINTED GOVERNOR OP 

CUBA AND FLORIDA SAILS TO CUBA EXPEDITION TO FLORIDA 

MARCH INTO THE COUNTRY BATTLE AT VITACHUCCO KING 

TUSCALOOSA DESPERATE BATTLE AT MAUVILA BURN- 
ING OF THE TOWN VICTORY OF THE SPANIARDS. 

The mysterious and reserved demeanor of Nunez, and his 
applications to the crown, were supposed to indicate his knowl- 
edge of wealthy regions locked up in the vast wilderness he 
had traversed; and the thirst for conquest was again inflamed. 

Hernando de Soto, already mentioned in the account of the 
conquest of Peru, had now returned to Spain with great wealth 
and renown,"'^ and was eager for an opportunity to inscribe his 
name, like those of Cortes and Pizarro, on the list of independ- 
ent conquerors. The court looked with favor on his scheme, 
and bestowed on him the titles of Governor and Captain-Gen- 
eral of Cuba, as well as of Florida, with liberty to discover and 
conquer to his full satisfaction. Nine hundred and fift}' Span- 
iards, equipped in gallant style, soon flocked to his banner; 
and a daring band of Portuguese cavaliers, who had served in 
the wars of Africa, enrolled themselves under his command. 

* There are few instances of a more sudden rise to prosperity than that of 
lliia famous cavalier. On leaving Spain, says one of his companions, "All 
the Estate Solo then had, was no more but a Sword and Buckler." In a few 
years he returned witli one of llie most brilliant names of tiie contjucst, and with 
some millions of duUarn, which ho freely lavished on his prujcitcd ciiterprise. 



850 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

At the muster, these gentlemen appeared in substantial armor, 
while the Spaniards made a more, gaudy, but less martial 
appearance, "gallantly apparelled" says one of the former, "in 
doublets and cassocks of silk, pinckt and embroidered. But 
that unseasonable gallantry did not please the general; and 
therefore he appointed another review, where all should appear 
in armor. The Portuguese appeared again very well armed, 
whereas the Castilians for the most part had no more but old 
rusty Coats of Mail, and all Head-pieces with spears or naughty " 
(worthless) "lances." 

In April, 1538, the armament set sail from San Lucar, and 
about the last of March arrived at Santiago de Cuba. The 
colonists manifested great joy at the arrival of their governor, 
and active preparations were made for the conquest of Florida, 
All were enthusiastic with anticipation, "and thought the 
hour of departure would never come, so fully were they pos- 
sessed that Florida was the richest country as yet discovered 
in the Indies.''^ 

Filled with exultant hopes, the adventurers, on the 18th of 
May, 1539, set sail in nine vessels from the port of Havana, 
A few days brought them to Tampa Bay, where they landed, 
carefully avoiding any offence to the inhabitants. The prin- 
cipal chief of the neighborhood was a powerful warrior, named 
Hiriga, to whom De Soto sent a friendly message, proffering 
alliance. But the angry chief, irritated by the former cruelties 
of the Spaniards, (it is said his nose had been cut off, and his 
mother thrown to the dogs by Narvaez,) answered fiercely that 
all he wanted of the white men was their heads — and he charged 
his people to bring him nothing else from the invaders. 

In an attack upon the Indians, which shortly after occurred, 
to the surprise of the assailants, one of the fugitives called out 
in Spanish, "Sirs, I am a Christian! do not kill me, nor these 
poor men who have given me my life." It proved to be one 
Juan Ortiz, a soldier of Narvaez, who for ten years had been 
a captive among the savages, and whose life, like that of Cap- 
tain Smith, had been saved by the generous intercession of the 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 351 

daughter of the chief who took him. He proved invaluable 
as an interpreter to the Spaniards, in the long and wearisome 
campaigns which ensued. 

Through his mediation, an alliance with several of the native 
chiefs was eifected ; and for many days, during which the Span- 
iards marched into the interior, they were supplied abundantly 
by the Indians with their simple fare — beans, millet, walnuts, 
and raisins. They reached at last the town of Ochili, situated 
on an ancient mound, and containing five hundred houses. 
This place Soto took by surprise, treating the vanquished 
inhabitants with lenity, and thence marched onward to Vita- 
chucco, the capital of the Indian province of the same name. 
The chief of that country received them with much civility, 
and for three days all was apparent amity and good-will. On 
the fourth, as the Spaniards were leaving the town, their enter- 
tainer, who walked by the side of Soto, suddenly snatched 
away his sword, and attempted to stab him. At this signal, his 
people, to the number of six thousand, suddenly rushed from 
the woods, and fell upon the invaders. The battle lasted nearly 
all day, but the Spaniards, assisted by their allies, were victor- 
ious, and repulsed the enemy with much loss. 

At Osichili (Tallahasoche) they had another sharp fight, but 
took the town, and thence marched on Appalachee. The 
natives, who had gathered in vast numbers in an intervening 
swamp, opposed them bravely, but the place was finally won, 
and here De Soto took up his quarters for the winter. The 
vessels were brought around into the Appalachee river. 

An exploring party, dispatched an hundred and eighty miles 
to the westward, discovered a good harbor, and reported indi- 
cations of gold. A young Indian, who was taken prisoner, 
also declared that there was much gold in his native country, 
to the eastward : " Whereupon," says the old Portuguese chron- 
icler, who was present, "he described the manner how that 
Gold was dug, how it was melted and refined, as if he had seen 
it done a hundred times, or as if the Deuil had taught him; 
insomuch that all who understood the manner of workinQ: in 



352 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the Mines, averred that it was impossible for him to speak so 
exactly of it, without having seen the same ; and so the relation 
of that Indian passed for a real truth, because of the circum- 
stances wherewith he confirmed it." 

Accordingly, in March, 1540, they again took up their march 
— a march destined to result in years of disappointment and 
suffering, and in the destruction of two-thirds of their number. 
It is impossible, in these limits, to describe the numerous events 
of this journey, extending over many months, or to recount 
the numerous petty chieftains who were subdued, and whose 
people were temporarily enslaved. It was the common custom 
of Soto to carry the cacique of each settlement as a prisoner and 
guide to the next — the unhappy villagers being chained and 
loaded like beasts of burden. 

These miserable creatures, worn out by toil, frequently per- 
ished on the way. "Nor indeed," says the Portuguese, "did 
any of those who were put in Chains ever returne again, if 
Fortune and the pains they took neatly to file off their Chain, 
did not restore them to liberty, or unless upon a march through 
the negligence of their guards they straggled away Chain, Bag- 
gage, and all together.'.' Elsewhere he complains of the hard- 
ships of the soldiers in carrying their own provisions, "because 
the Indians that served us, going naked and in Irons during 
the bitter cold of Winter, were almost all starved to death." 
So wearied were the Spaniards themselves with continual 
marching, that one of them flung away a bag-full of the most 
beautiful and valuable pearls, rather than carry it farther. 

In addition to their other troubles, these travellers, ahvays 
accustomed to the use of salt, suffered greatly from the want 
of it, and a loathsome malady, which in the end carried off 
sixty of them, occasioned by this want, began to make its 
appearance. 

No gold was found, though continual reports lured them 
onward, and the Spaniards, gradually turning to the north and 
west, traversed the Cherokee conntrv, and by tlie beginning 
of September, found theniseh^es in tlio territories of a ^cfigantic 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 353 

chieftain, named Tuscaloosa, who ruled over the whole sur- 
rounding region. His memory is perpetuated to this day by 
the river as well as by the state capital still bearing his name. 
On learning of the approach of the Spaniards, he dispatched 
his son to their quarters, with a friendly message, and an invi- 
tation to visit him at his residence. 

The}'- found him seated in Oriental state, environed by at- 
tendants, before his door. "Those of greatest quality," says 
the Portuguese, "were next him, one of whom, to keep the Sun . 
off of him, held over his Head an Umbrello of Bucks-skin of 
the bigness of a Buckler, and party-colored black and white, 
with a St. Andrew's cross in the middle of it." He was of vast 
frame and admirable proportions, standing a full head and a 
half taller than any present, and being the most splendid speci- 
men of an Indian whom the Spaniards had beheld. 

His countenance, proud and calm, maintained its habitual 
apathy, in despite the novelty and strangeness of all that he 
beheld. "All the troopers in the Retinue made a great many 
Passades in the Market Place, spurring their horses sometimes 
to the very place where the Cacique was, whi('.h he beheld with 
a great deal of gravity, casting his eyes onely upon them now 
and then in a most haughty and disdainful manner." On the 
arrival of Soto, he still kept up his dignity, "not budging out 
of his place to go and meet him." He seated the Spanish 
general by his side, however, and addressed him with much 
civility. 

After some repose, the army again took up its march, ac- 
companied by Tuscaloosa, now gayly decked with a scarlet 
dress and mantle, and mounted on the stoutest horse in the 
whole army. By October 18th, they arrived at the strong 
town of Mauvila, or Maubila,* the principal capital of that 
chief, situated at the junction of the Tombigbee and Alabama 
rivers. It was carefully fortified, and was surrounded by a 
rampart of living trees, closely planted and interwoven. The 

* The present city and bay of Mobile, it would seem, derive their name 
from this oriyinyl Indian appellation. 

23 



854 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

houses were only eighty in number, but were of immense size, 
some of them being capable of lodging fifteen hundred persons. 

It was soon evident enough that the Spaniards had run their 
heads into a snare, from which all their valor and advantage 
in arms would be required to free them. The fierce and wily 
chieftain, who had guided them to his stronghold, had from 
the first resolved to rid the country of their hated presence, 
and, to that end, had ordered his subjects, men and women, 
from far and near, to rendezvous at Mauvila; promising, as 
spoil, the bright arms and gaudy robes of the intruders. Ten 
thousand warriors, it is said, were assembled in the houses; 
and Tuscaloosa, in spite of the efforts of De Soto, who " endeav- 
ored to sweeten him with civilities," as well as to detain him 
by force, abruptly quitted the Spaniards, and entered his palace. 

To the repeated messages that he should rejoin them, dis- 
patched through Ortiz, no answer was vouchsafed; but when 
a rather' peremptory invitation to dinner was conveyed in the 
same manner, an Indian noble, with his ej^es flashing fire, step- 
ped forth, and cried furiously, "Who are these robbers! these 
vagabonds! who keep calling to my chief Tuscaloosa, come 
out! come out! with as little reverence as if he were one of 
them? By the sun and moon ! this insolence is no longer to 
be borne. Let us cut them to pieces on the spot, and put an 
end .to their wickedness and tyranny." He bent his bow, but 
ere .the shaft was discharged, was cut down by a Spaniard. 
Swarms of warriors, armed to the teeth, now poured out of 
every house, and a desperate battle, within the rampart, took 
place. 

De Soto, fighting valiantly on horseback, killed several of 
the Indians with his own hand, and all endeavored to defend 
themselves until the main body of the troops should come up. 
The reverend clergy, already in their quarters, also did their 
devoir viiliantly; for, says the Portuguese, "the Monk and 
Pxiest, laying hold each of them of a staff, stood on each side 
of the door to knock on the head the first that shoukl set his 
foot within the house." The assaihmts, proceeds the same 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA, 355 

narrator, fetching the slaves into the inclosure " knock'd off the 
Chains they carried, and gave them Bows and Arrows to fight 
against us. Thus they seiz'd all our Equipage and even our 
Pearls; and seeing that we marched through a Country that in 
all appearance had submitted, many Souldiers had left their 
arms with the Baggage; So that they fell into the Enemies' 
hands, who had besides Swords and Halberds which they had 
snatched from those who entred with the Governour." 

The van-guard, fighting for their lives, finally, with some 
loss, worked their way out of the town, and joined their com- 
panions without. A furious battle, lasting for three hours, 
ensued. Now the Spaniards, at the point of the lance, would 
force the torrent of their enemies to the very gate, and now, 
overpowered by missiles from the rampart, were compelled in 
turn to give ground. At length the governor ordered a gen- 
eral assault. Two hundred dismounted cavaliers, "marchino- 

■ o 

with extraordinary fury," says the old chronicler, forced the 
gate, with great slaughter, and the assailants reentered the 
town. Here the fight still continued, with additional horrors ; 
the houses being fired, and the stifling smoke enveloping the 
combatants on each side. Choaked with the heat and exhaus- 
tion, the Spaniards would drink hastily from a pool which was 
nearly half blood,* and then renew the combat. 

At last the rear-guard, under Luis de Moscoso, who had 
loitered by the way, hastened up, alarmed by the noise of the 
battle, and finally, after a bloody conflict, lasting for nine hours, 
victory declared in favor of the Spaniards. The town was all 
in flames, and great numbers of the Indians perished in the con- 
flagration. Eighty-two of the Spaniards, with fortj'-two horses, 
had fallen, and at least seventeen hundred wounds were dis- 
tributed among the survivors. 

The loss of the Indians was incredible, for they had fought 
with desperation to the last. Twenty -five hundred bodies 

*"The Christians, clio.iked with droughth, went to refresh themselves in 
a Pool near the Palissado, where they drank as much bK»ud as water; and so 
returned to the Fight." — Portuguese Narralice. 



356 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

were scattered without the walls, and the number which had 
perished within, especially in the burning houses, was prob- 
ably still greater. Among them, it is probable, was their king, 
Tuscaloosa — for nothing more was heard of him. All the 
equipage and plunder of the Spaniards, which, especially in 
pearls, was very valuable, had been consumed in the flames. 

The condition of the victors, wounded and shelterless, was 
miserable in the extreme, and they were compelled, for want 
of ointment, to dress their wounds with the fat of the dead 
Indians — a horrible species of chirurgery, which, as we have 
seen, was also common in the campaigns of Mexico. Greatly 
to their credit, they treated with kindness the wounded and 
dying enemy, who, in great numbers, lay scattered around. 
Not the slightest sign of hostility was again seen in the neigh- 
borhood, for nearly all the warriors of the province had per- 
ished on that terrible day. 

Of all the losses of the Christians, nothing troubled them 
so much as that of the flour and wine which they used for the 
sacrament — for, after solemn consultation among the clergy, it 
was held that to substitute corn-bread would be an ofteuce 
bordering on sacrilege. 



CHATTER III. 

DISCONTENT OF THE CAVALIKRS DESPONDENCY OF SOTO HE MARCHES 

WESTWARD — WINTERS AT CHICAZA BATTLE AND BURNING OF THE 

VILLAGE — ARRIVAL AT THE MISSISSIPPI THE LITTLE CACIQLE 

OF CHISCA — PASSAGE OF THE KIVER MARCH TO ARKAN- 

SAS — RETl'RN TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 

While remaining amid the ruins of Mnnvila, Soto learned 
that ships had arrived on the coast, and tiiat the Bay of 
Achusi, (Pensacola,) where he had ordered liis fleet to rendez- 
vous, was distant only seven days' journev frt);n his present 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 357 

position. But the elation with which he received these tid- 
ings was damped by the discontent and sedition of his fol- 
lowers. "With despair, he overheard a conversation between 
certain of the cavaliers, who avowed their intention to seizQ 
the ships and make thfeir way to Mexico. All his toils seemed 
to have been in vain; the sacrifice of his immense fortune, 
and the fatigues and perils of his journey, had been incurred 
for nothing. There was no treasure to send to Cuba to attract 
fresh volunteers. He became a moody and disappointed man; 
but in his secret soul resolved never to return without having 
accomplished something commensurate to his former fame and 
anticipations. But the fire of ambitious enthusiasm was burnt 
out, or quenched by disappointment. "He no longer pre- 
tended to strike out any grand undertaking; but, stung with 
secret disappointment, went recklessly wandering from place 
to place, without order or object, as if careless of time and 
life, and only anxious to finish his existence." 

Turning his back upon the coast, on the 18th of November, 
he again set forth into the interior; the malcontents being 
overawed by his stem and ominous demeanor. He crossed 
the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee, not without opposition 
from the Indians, and at the end of thirty days arrived at the 
village of Chicaza (Chickasaw). Here he encamped for two 
months, living in friendly intercourse with the surrounding 
natives. At the end of that time, disputes having occurred, 
and some Indians having been slain, the most powerful cacique 
of the neighborhood resolved on a deadly revenge. In the 
dead of night a furious attack was made upon the village, 
which was fired by burning arrows. After a long battle, the 
assailants were beaten off; but forty of the Spaniards and fifty 
of their horses had perished in the flames or by the weapons 
of the enemy. 

During the remainder of the winter, (1541,) they remained 
at a miserable encampment in the neighborhood, often attacked 
by the savages, and suffering terribly from cold. Being, for 
the most part, without shelter, "the chiefest remidie were 



358 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

greate fires. They spent all night in turnings without sleepe; 
for if they warmed one side, they freesed on the other." 

On the first of April, they again took up their march, and 
on the way stormed and took a strong fortress, called AUhamo^ 
with great slaughter of the enemy, and with the loss of fifteen 
of their own number. 

After marching for many days through a marshy and unin- 
habited country, Soto came in sight of a vast river, which he 
called the Rio Grande. It was the Mississippi, which still 
rolls its majestic current over his grave, tiere was a village 
called Chisca, which the Spaniards seized and pillaged. The 
aged cacique, who was lying ill on his bed, on hearing the alarm, 
seized his tomahawk, and with great fury rushed down from 
his fortress toward the village — declaring that he would exter- 
minate the intruders. " With all these bravadoes, the cacique, 
besides being infirm and exceedingly old, was pitiful in dimen- 
sions; the most miserable little Indian that the Spaniards had 
seen in all their marchings. He was animated, however, by the 
remembrance of the deeds and exploits of his youth, for he 
had been a doughty warrior, and ruled over a vast province."* 

This fiery little chieftain, however, was held back by his 
women and attendants, who entreated him to wait for the 
assembling of his people. Within three hours he was sur- 
rounded by four thousand warriors, and Soto was glad to pur- 
chase peace by giving up his plunder and prisoners. Food 
and shelter were then supplied to the visitors, who remained 
here some time to recruit their strength. They then marched 
for four days along the bank, seeking a convenient place to 
cross. Twenty more were employed in building boats; and a 
multitude of warriors, with a great number of canoes, assem- 
bled on the opposite shore. These Indians continually annoyed 
them with desultory attacks, though as often repulsed. " It 
was a pleasant sight," says one, "to see them in their Canoes, 
which were most neatly made, and very large, with their Pavil- 
ions, Feathers, Shields, and Standards, that looked like a fleet 

* Theodore Irving's Conquest of Florida. 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 359 

of galle3#3," The boats being finished, the army passed over 
the Mississippi, and landed without opposition, the enemy- 
withdrawing before its approach. "The River in that place," 
says the Portuguese, accurately describing its present appear- 
ance, "was half a league over, so that a man could not be dis- 
tinguished from one side to the other; it was verj'' deep and 
very rapid, and being always full of trees and timber that was 
carried down by the force of the stream, the water was thick 
and very muddy."* 

Thence the Spaniards marched westward, now on the most 
friendly terms with the natives, and now, by some violence or 
misunderstanding, incurring their hostility. On one occasion, 
two blind men were brought to De Soto to be healed, and at a 
grand religious ceremony, a mighty cross was erected, and the 
Indians, to the number of many thousands, joined in beseech- 
ing the God of the Christians to send rain on their parched 
fields. "God in his mercy, willing to show these heathens, 
that he listeneth unto them who call upon him in truth, sent 
down, in the middle of the ensuing night, a plenteous rain, to 
the great jo}'' of the Indians." — Las Casas. 

At last, after many strange adventures, the little army came 
to a village, called Utiangue, situated, it is probable, on the 
Arkansas, and here Soto determined to remain until spring. 
Plenty of provisions and fuel were found, and the winter was 
passed in comparative comfort. 

But all hopes of golden regions to be discovered, or of 
wealthy empires to be subdued, had gradually faded from his 
mind. Nearly half his command had perished on the way; 
and the greater part of the horses were gone. He now re- 
solved to direct his course to the Mississippi, and there to 
build brigantines, in which he might send to Cuba for colon- 
ists' and supplies. Accordingly, in the spring of 1542, he 
broke up his encampment and marched eastward, arriving at 

* "This place, where De Soto and his army crossed the Mississippi, w.ms 
probably the lowest Chickasaw Bluff, one of the ancient crossinir places, 
between the thirty-fuurth and thirty-fifth parallel of latitude" — Irving. 



360 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

last at the village of Guachoya, situated, it would appear, near 
the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. The 
inhabitants fled in their canoes, and the Spaniards took up 
their quarters in the deserted fortress. 

The cacique finally returned, with a large retinue, and 
friendly relations were established. While conversing, at a 
grand audience, the chief happened to sneeze ; and, to the sur- 
prise of the Spaniards, all his attendants broke out into some- 
thing like the European "God bless you," so universally 
applied on such occasions. "May the Sun guard you — may 
the Sun be with you — may the Sun shine on you — defend you 
— prosper you, and the like; each one uttered the phrase 
which first came to mind, and for a short time there was a 
universal murmuring of these compliments." By the insidi- 
ous manoeuvres of this chief, who wished to revenge himself 
on his enemies, Soto was decoyed into hostilities with the 
people of Anilco, a neighboring province, and great numbers 
of the latter were massacred by his ferocious allies. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HAUGHTY MESSAGE OF THE CACIQUE QUIGUALTANQUI ILLNESS 

AND DEATH OF DE SOTO HIS BURIAL IN THE MISSISSIPPI 

FATE OF THE SURVIVORS THEIR VOYAGE TO MEXICO 

SUMMARY OF SPANISH CRUELTIES. 

The building of two brigantines was actively commenced, 
with all the resources of which labor and ingenuity could avail 
themselves. On the opposite side of the river lay a great 
Indian province, called Quigualtanqui, ruled, as usual, by a 
cacique of the same title. Into this country Soto dispatched 
a small party on an exploring expedition, who, at the end of 
eight days, returned, reporting that they could learn nothing 
of the sea, but the whole region seemed to consist of vast 
swamps and forests, through which the river, with many wind- 
ings, found its way. "Ilereupon," says an old historian, "the 



DISCOVERY AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 861 

Gouernour fell into great dumps, to see how hard it was to get 
to the sea; and worse because his men and horses euery day 
diminished, being without succour to sustaine themselves in 
the country; and with that thought he fell sick." He dis- 
patched, however, an embassy to the cacique, Quigualtanqui, 
informing him, as usual, that he was the offspring of the Sun, 
and requiring his allegiance and a visit. To this demand, 
that haughty chieftain returned the bold and magnanimous 
repl}^,* "That whereas he said he was the Childe of the Sunne, 
if he would drie vp the Riuer, hee would beleeve him ; and 
touching the rest, that hee was wont to visit none; therefore, 
if hee desired to see him, it were best hee should come thither ; 
that if hee came in peace, hee would receiue him with speciall 
good will ; and if in warre, in like manner hee woulde attend 
him in the towne where' hee was, and that for him or any 
other hee would not shrinlce one foote hacky 

His mortification at this gTand repulse increased the illness 
of the unfortunate Soto, who, we are told, "had betaken him- 
selfe to bed, being euill handled with feuers, and was much 
aggrieved that he was not in case to passe presently the Riuer 
and seeke him, to see if hee could abate that pride ofhis.^'' 

His toils and anxieties, however, were drawing to an end. 
As he felt death approaching, he called in turn all his com- 
panions to his side, and took a most affectionate leave of them 
beseeching their prayers for his soul. He appointed Luis de 
Moscoso to succeed him in the command, and charged his 
followers to be faithful to the crown, and to be peaceful and 
loving with each other. "Next day," says the Portuguese, 
"being the One and twentieth day of May^ the Magnanimous 
Virtuous, and Valiant Captain, Don Fernando de /Soto, Govern- 
our of Cuba, and General of Florida, yielded his Soul to God." 

*On.T previous occasion, his pretensions had met even a keeniT reliuff; for 
says Piirehas, " One Cai-ique asked Solo what he was, and why he c.ime tliither. 
He answered that hee was the Sonne of God," (more probably, Childe of the 
Sunne,) "and came to teach them knowledge of the Law. Nol so, saith the 
Cacique, if God bids thee thus to kill, sleale, and worke all kind of mischief." 



862 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

" Thus died Hernando de Soto ; one of the boldest and the 
bravest of the many brave leaders who figured in the first dis- 
coveries, and distinguished themselves in the wild warfare of 
the Western World. How proud and promisitig had been the 
commencement of his career! how humble and hopeless its 
close ! Cut off in the very vigor and manhood of his days, for 
he was but forty-two years old when he expired ; perishing in 
a strange and savage land, amid the din and tumult of a camp, 
with merely a few rough soldiers to attend him ; for nearly all 
were engaged in the preparations making for their escape in 
this perilous situation."* 

His burial was a strange one; but not unworthy of his ex- 
traordinary career and of his great discoveries. The Spaniards 
carefully concealed his death from the Indians, fearing lest 
they should be encouraged to rise against the survivors. Ac- 
cordingly, an evergreen oak was cut down, and a hollow made 
in the centre of its heavy trunk. In this singular coffin, the 
body of their valiant general was carefully secured, and in the 
dead of night, attended by the priests and chief cavaliers, was 
solemnly launched into the centre of the river, nineteen fathoms 
in depth. There, in their rude receptacle, a hundred feet be- 
low the surface, and long since covered with the drift and 
wreck of three centuries, still repose the remains of the renowned 
adventurer; and the majestic torrent of the Mississippi, rolling 
over the bones of its discoverer, forms a fitting and enduring 
monument to his fame. 

The fortunes of the remaining adventurers, after the death 
of their leader, may be briefly summed up. Abandoning the 
attempt to descend the river, they took up their march to the 
westward, hoping to arrive at some of the frontier settlements 
of Mexico. In this harassing journey, which lasted from May 
to October, they penetrated to the desert prairies of the west, 
and obtained, it would seem, a distant view of the Kocky 
Mountains. Then, wearied and half-despairing, they came to 
a halt, and after much debate again started to retrace their 
* Theodore Irving. 



DISCOVERT AND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 363 

course to the Mississippi. They were greatly annoyed by the 
hostilities of the natives, both on their march and return, and 
were guilty of outrageous cruelty to their captives. 

Finally, after six months of fruitless and wearisome journey- 
ing, in December, they arrived at Aminoya, an Indian settle- 
ment on the Mississippi, near Guachoya, and recommenced the 
building of brigantines. Every particle of iron, even to the 
stirrups of the cavalry and the chains of the prisoners, was 
pressed into the service. During the winter and spring, de- 
spite the general hostility of the Indians, seven vessels were 
constructed, and in these on the 2d of July, 1513, the Spaniards 
embarked, in hopes to regain their homes. "Of the numerous 
and brilliant host that had entered on this disastrous enterprise, 
not quite three hundred and fifty survived ; and these in for- 
lorn and wretched plight; their once brilliant armor battered, 
broken, and rusted; their rich and silken raiment reduced to 
rags, or replaced by the skins of wild beasts." 

On their way down the river they were annoyed by the 
continued attacks of their enemies, in canoes, to such a degree 
that the old Portuguese heads an entire chapter "Of the Ilead- 
strongness of the Indians in pursuing us during our Course in 
the River." The last of their three hundred and fifty horses 
were killed on the shore by these assailants. After a wearisome 
voyage, they reached the mouth of the river, then, as now, 
bounded by vast marshes and rafts of decaying timber. They 
steered for Mexico, keeping westward along the coast, for fifty- 
three days. A violent gale then arose from the north, and 
though Moscoso, with five of the brigantines, succeeded in 
keeping in with the land, two others, in great peril, were driven 
to sea. They finally, however, ran on shore, and, to their de- 
light, perceived that they had arrived on the frontiers of Span- 
ish Mexico. Meanwhile, Moscoso and his command entered 
the river Panuco, near the town of that name, where, frantic 
with joy, the Spaniards leaped ashore, and kneeling down, 
repeatedly kissed the earth, giving thanks to God. They soon 
made their way to the town, where all were struck with pity 



864 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and horror at beholding them; for they "were blackened, 
haggard, shrivelled, and half-naked, being clad only with the 
skins of deer, buffaloes, bears and other animals, so that they 
looked more like wild beasts than human beings." Such was 
the end of an expedition commenced with better means, livelier 
hopes, and more sanguine expectations than almost any of the 
early examples of Spanish enterprise. 



An account of the transactions of the Spaniards in the New 
World (which our limits compel us to end here) would be in- 
complete without a brief sketch of the cruelties which, more 
than any European discoverers, they inflicted on the aborigines, 
and of the extensive and lamentable depopulation caused by 
their massacres when engaged in conquest, and their crushing 
tyranny when masters of the country. The whole matter is 
summed up, more forcibly than elegantly, by old Purchas, who 
thus, with some additions of his own, condenses the doleful 
chronicle from the "Brevisima Relacion" of Las Casas:* 

"To these lambes, sayeth he, the Spaniards came as cruell 
and hungry tygres, beares, and lions: intending nothing these 
forty yeeres, (hee wrote this, anno 1542) but bloud and slaughter, 
to satisfy their auerice and ambition: insomuch that of three 
million of people which were contayned in Hispaniola of the 
naturall inhabitants, there scarce remayned at that time three 
hundred; and now, as Alexandre Vrsino reporteth, none at 

* This worthy priest, Bishop of Chiapa, deservedly famous, in an age of 
cruelty and oppression, for his bold and generous advocacy of Indian rights, 
resided nearly all his life among the early Spanish settlements, and often re- 
luctantly witnessed the most hideous scenes of massacre and torment inflicted 
on the. uniiappy natives. Where he speaks from his own observation, his 
account is fully reliable; but it is said that he was prone to receive exagger- 
ated statements, and that the number of the victims, as recorded in his book, 
is very much overstated. 



DISCOVERY .1ND INVASION OF FLORIDA. 865 

all; only two and twenty thousand negroes and some Span- 
iards reside there. 

"Cuba and the other islands had endured the like misery; 
and in the firme land, ten kingdomes, greater than all Spaiue, 
were dispeopled and desolate ; and in that space there had not 
perished lesse than twelue milhons by their tyranie. 

"In the island Hispaniola the Spaniards had their first In- 
dian habitations, where their cruelties draue the Indians to 
their shifts, and to their weak defence, which caused these 
enraged lions to spare neyther man, woman, or childe; they 
would lay wagers who coulde with most dexteritie strike off 
an Indians head or smite him asunder in the middle ; they 
would plucke the infants by the heeles from their mothers' 
brests and dash out their braines against the stones, or with a 
scofFe hurle them into the riuer. They set vp gibbets, and in 
honor of Christ and his twelve apostles (as they said, and could 
the deuill say worse?) they would both hang and burne them. 
Others they took, and cutting their hands almost off, bid them 
carry those letters (their hands dropping blood and almost drop- 
ping off themselves) to their countrimen, which (for feare of 
the like) lav hidden in the mountaines; 

"The nobles and commanders they broyled on gridirons. 
•X- * * * They had dogs, to hunt them out of their couerts, 
which deuoured the poore soules: and because sometimes the 
Indians, thus prouoked, would kill a Spaniard, if they found 
opj)()rtunitie, they made a law that a hundred of them for one 
Spaniard should be slaine. 

"In the Kingdome Xarngua, in Hispaniola, the gouernour 
called before him three hundred Indian lords, which he partly 
burned in a house and put the rest to the sword, and hano-ed 
vp the Queene, as they did also to Iliquanama, the Queene of 
IHrjuey. Of all which cruelties, our author, an eye-witness, 
afBrmeth that the Indians gaue no cause by any crime, that had 
so deserued by any law. 

'•In New Spaine, from the yeer 1518 to 1530, in foure hun- 
dred and eighty miles about Mexico, they destroj^ed aboue 



866 NORTH ANP SOUTH AMERICA. 

foure millions of people in their conquests by fire and sword, 
not reckoning those which died in seruitude and oppression. 
In the prouince of Naco and Honduras, from the yeere 152-i 
to 1535, two millions of men perished and scarce two thousand 
remayne. In Gautiniala, from the yeere 1524 to 1540, they 
destroyed aboue foure or fine millions vnder that Aluarado, 
who dying, by the fall of his horse, complained (when he was 
asked where his paine was most) of his soule-tormente ; and 
his city Guatimala was with a threefold deluge of earth, of 
water, of stones, oppressed and ouerwhelmed. 

"They did the like in the kingdome of Venezuela, destroy- 
ing foure or fine millions; and out of that firme land, carried 
to the islands for slaves, at times, in seuenteene yeeres, a mil- 
lion of people." 



THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY VOYAGES TO NORTH AMERICA THE FISHERIES — JOHN VERRAZANO 

VOYAGES OF JACQUES CARTIER HE ASCENDS THE ST. LAWRENCE 

QUEBEC THE CHIEF DONNACONA — VOYAGE TO HOCHELAGA 

(MONTREAL) WINTER IN CANADA SUFFERING — RE- 
TURN DISASTROUS VOYAGES OF ROBERVAL AND 

CARTIER DEATH OF CARTIER. 

The American Continent, as we have seen, was first discov- 
ered in 1497, by the renowned Sebastian Cabot, who, with his 
father, was engaged in the enterprise, continued to our own 
day, of seeking a north-west passage. In the following year 
he made another voyage, in which he explored a considerable 
portion of the American coast, descending, it would seem, as 
low as Virginia, and perhaps still further to the south. In 
1500, Gaspar de Cortereal, in the service of Portugal, sailed to 
the same coast, and discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In a 
second voyage, he perished at sea, and his brother, who went in 
search of him, met the same fate. Nothing concerning their fate 
was ascertained by an expedition dispatched in quest of them. 

In a very few years the Basque and Breton fishermen, the 
most hardy and enterprising of France, commenced their lucra- 
tive occupation on the Great Bank of Newfoundland — a more 
certain and enduring mine of wealth than all the movmtains 
of Potosi. The name of Cape Breton still attests the former 
presence of these ancient mariners and the country of their 
origin. 

It was not, however, until 1523 that the French government 
turned its attention to the career of discovery and colonization 



368 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

whicli had so profitably engrossed its Spanish and Portuguese 
rivals. In that year, Francis I, fitted out a squadron of four 
vessels for western exploration, and gave the connnand to John 
Yerrazano, a skilful Florentine navigator, who, like Columbus, 
Cabot, and Vespucius, had carried to a foreign court tlie ser- 
vices which, amid the fading glories of Italy, could neither be 
adequately employed or rewai'ded. Nothing has survived of 
the particulars of this first voyage; but in the following year 
he touched on the coast of North America, and sailed along 
it to Newfoundland, a distance of two thousand miles. The 
savages, whenever he approached the shore, beheld the stran- 
gers with wonder and admiration, but offered no annoyance. 
The fate of a third expedition, which he commanded, is un- 
known, but was probably disastrous. 

In 1525, one Stephano Gomez sailed from Spain to the 
island of Newfoundland, and, it would seem, entered the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, and traded on its shores. According to the 
Spanish accounts, his people, disappointed in their hopes of 
treasvire, frequently repeated the words " Aca nada!" (Here is 
nothing,) and thus conferred on the whole province the name of 
Canada. This title, however, is more probably derived from 
the Iroquois word "Kannata," signifying a cluster of cabins. 

The growing wealth and importance of the Spanish colonies 
aroused the emulation of tlieir neighbors; and in 1534, Fran- 
cis, by the persuasion of High Admiral Chabot, fitted out 
another expedition for discovery and settlement. On the 20th 
of April, Jacques Cartier, the selected commander, sailed from 
St. Malo with two very small vessels, in which were crowded 
an hundred and twenty men. In twenty days he made New- 
foundland, and, passing through the Straits of Belle Isle, en- 
tered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Coasting along its shores, he 
was charmed with the beauty of the scenery and the kindness 
and civility of the natives. lie took formal possession of the 
country in the name of the French sovereign, and, cruising along 
the northern coast, entered the River St. Lawrence. But the 
weather became stormy, and, taking two of the Indians by 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 869 

Stratagem, he gave up further exploration, and set sail for 
France, where he arrived early in the autumn. 

The court of France, encouraged by his report, resolved to 
found a settlement in the newly -explored region; and accord- 
ingly, in May of the following year, with three vessels, he 
again took his departure. These vessels, dispersed by tem- 
pests, did not rendezvous at Newfoundland until the latter 
part of July. They then entered the gulf, on which their 
leader bestowed the name of St. Lawrence, in honor of the 
saint on whose day he had first discovered it. Keeping along 
the north shore of the island of Anticosti, they entered the 
Great Eiver, and soon after passed the mouth of the majestic 
Saguenay. Early in autumn, the little fleet arrived at a beau- 
tiful island, covered with vines, which Cartier named the Isle 
of Bacchus, and which is now known as the Isle of Orleans. 
It is just below Quebec. 

Here an Indian chief, named Donnacona, came, with many 
canoes, to welcome the strangers. He placed the admiral's 
arm around his neck, and exhibited the most confiding and 
kindly demeanor. The French resolved to take up their win- 
ter quarters at the mouth of the river St. Charles, a little be- 
low the high and rocky promontory of Quebec* " When the 
white men first stood upon the summit of this bold headland, 
above their port of shelter, most of the countrj' was fresh from 
the hand of the Creator; save the three small barks, lying at 
the mouth of the stream, and the Indian village, no sign of 
human habitation met their view. Far as the eye could reach, 
the dark forest spread; over hill and valley, mountain and 
plain; up to the craggy peaks, down to the blue water's edge; 
along the gentle slopes of the rich Isle of Bacchus, and even 

* The derivation of this rinmi' h.-is bf-en often contested. Some s;iy it is nearly 
the orifriiial Indian term Qiiebnio; others, th:it it is derived from Caudebec, 
on the. Seine; while other authors niaintiin that it had its origin in the 
exclamation of Cartier's pilot, on first beholding the majestic Cape, "Quel 
bee!" (" What a beak !" or promontory) — bee. in the Norman, correspondinj^ to 
the old English Ness or Nose; as a general term for any remarkable headland. 
24 



870 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

from projecting rocks, and in fissures of the lofty precipice, 
the deep green mantle of the summer foliage hung its grace- 
ful folds. In the dim distance — north, south, east, and west — ■ 
where mountain rose above mountain in tumultuous variety 
of outline, it was still the same; one vast leafy veil concealed 
the virgin face of Nature from the stranger's sight. On the 
eminence commanding this scene of wild but magnificent 
beauty, a prosperous city now stands; the patient industry of 
man has felled that dense forest, tree by tree, for miles and 
miles around, and where it stood, rich fields rejoice the eye; 
the once silent waters of the Great River below now surge 
against hundreds of stately ships; connnerce has enriched this 
spot, art adorned it; a memory of glory endears it lo each 
British heart." * 

The friendly chief, whose village (Stadacona) was hard by 
their anchorage, was waiting on the shore, with five hundred 
of his people, to receive the voyagers. Much civility and 
many kind offices were exchanged between the strangers. The 
French, unused to the custom of smoking, beheld with amaze- 
ment their Indian friends with long reeds in their mouths, 
one end glowing with fire and smoke. The pipe once lit, re- 
lates Cartier — "they suck at the other end so long that they 
fill their bodies full of smoke, till it comes out of their mouth 
and nostrils as from the chimney of a house! They allege 
that this practice is conducive to health; we tried to use this 
smoke, but on putting it into our mouths, it seem-ed as hot as pepper.^^ 

From these people, Cartier learned that farther up the river 
was a large town, called Ilochelaga; and, despite their remon- 
strances, he determined to ascend to it. With thirty-five men, 
he proceeded up the river, finding a rich and beautiful coun- 
try on either bank, and meeting with much friendship and 
hospitality from the natives. On the 2d of October, he ar- 
rived at Ilochelaga. Above a thousand Indians were assem- 
bled on the shore to welcome him, and the most friendly and 
confidential intercourse ensued. The town was circular in its 
* Eliot Warburton. 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 371 

form, and consisted of about fifty very large houses. It stood 
in the midst of great fields of Indian corn, and was strongly 
fortified by three rows of palisades. The inhabitants were a 
portion of the great tribe of the Ilurons. 

1'hese simple people, in their veneration of the strangers, 
brought many of their maimed and sick to be healed; but the 
pious Cartier, disclaiming any supernatural power, made the 
sign of the cross over the sufi^erers, presented them with chap- 
lets, and read to them a part of the gospel of St. John, pray- 
ing earnestly for their conversion. 

Kear their village was a lofty hill, commanding a magnifi- 
cent view of the surrounding country. To this hill he gave 
the name of Mont Eoyal, afterwards applied to the city built 
at its base (Montreal). "Time has now swept away every 
trace of Hochelaga; on its site the modern capital of Canada 
has arisen; fifty thousand people of European race, and stately 
buildings of carved stone, replace the simple Indians and the 
huts of the ancient town." 

Leaving these kindly people grieved and disappointed at 
the shortness of his visit, the French commander returned to 
Quebec, w^here he had resolved to await the spring. Unpro- 
vided for the extremities of a Canadian winter, the voyagers 
suftered dreadfully from cold. Twenty-five of them perished 
of scurvy, and the remainder would probably have met the 
same fate, but for the use of a remedy (probably spruce baj-k 
and leaves,) imparted to them by the Indians. All the kind- 
ness of these poor creatures, as usual, was repaid by a piece 
of atrocious perfidy, Cartier, on his departure, (May, 1536,) 
seized the friendly chief and several of his people, and carried 
them off to France, as presents to the king! 

There was no encouragement, in the shape of treasure, to 
further enterprise; but the beauty and fertility of the country 
seemed to present advantages for the foundation of a colony; 
and, in 1540, the lord of Roberval procured from the king the 
office of viceroy over all the recently-discovered islands and 
regions of "New France." Cartier was named second in com- 



872 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

mand, and in May, 1541, set sail, with several vessels, leaving 
Eoberval to follow. In three months he reached Quebec, 
"where the consequences of his former treachery embarrassed 
all his movements, and in the end proved fatal to the founda- 
tion of a settlement. The Indians of Stadacona now molested 
the adventurers or sullenly held aloof from them ; and Cartier 
was fain to remove his quarters to Cape Rouge, a few miles up 
the river. Here he passed the winter in much discomfort, 
continually dreading a general attack by the natives. 

Roberval had been detained until the following spring, when 
with three vessels he set sail in quest of his lieutenant. Early 
in June, he reached the Road of St. John's, Newfoundland, 
where he found seventeen vessels already engaged in the fish- 
ery. Here, to his great surprise, he was joined by Cartier, 
who had abandoned his settlement, and was sailing, a disap- 
pointed man, for Europe. No persuasion could induce him or 
his crews to incur a renewal of their hardships and perils. He 
silently sailed away in the night, and, soon after his return to 
Europe, died, without having added any of the renown of col- 
onization to that which he had acquired by discovery. 

Roberval, thus deserted, proceeded up the river, and passed 
the following winter in the deserted quarters of his associate. 
Fifty of his men died of the scurvy, and he lost eight more 
the following summer in an attempt to explore the Saguenay. 
His force, demoralized by sickness and misfortune, became 
turbulent und seditious; and in 1543, he returned to Fi'ance. 
Six j^ears afterwards he again sailed for the same regions; but 
nothing was ever learned of the fate of the expedition. " Thus, 
for many a year, were swallowed up in the stormy Atlantic all 
the bright hopes of founding a new nation in America; since 
these daring men had failed, none othei"S might expect to be 
successful.'' 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 373 



CHAPTER II. 

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN COLONY OF PORT ROYAL QUEBEC FOUNDED 

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE IROQUOIS BARBAROUS TRIUMPH MON- 
TREAL FOUNDED DEFEAT OF CHAMPLAIN HIS PERSEVERANCE 

IN COLONIZATION — ILLIBERALITY TO THE HUGUENOTS 

MISERABLE CONDITION OF THE CANADIAN SETTLE- 
MENTS CHAMPLAIN APPOINTED GOVERNOR 

INCREASE OF THE COLONIES DEATH OF 

CHAMPLAIN HIS CHARACTER. 

For fifty years no attempts were made by the French "to 
colonize these inclement regions, the scene of such repeated 
sufferings and losses. Fisheries and traffic with the natives, 
however, were still carried on, in the summer, along the coasts. 
At length, under the enterprising rule of Henry IV., the spirit 
of discovery was once more aroused. In 1598, the Marquis 
de la Roche, invested with' the same powers and dignities as 
the unfortunate Eoberval, sailed for Nova Scotia. All he 
accomplished, however, was to leave forty miserable convicts 
upon Sable Island, where, seven years afterwards, only twelve 
of them, having endured the most cruel sufferings, were found 
to be alive. 

A merchant of St. Malo, named Pontgrav^, had oflen vo3-aged 
to Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, and brought 
home valuable cargoes of furs obtained by traffic from the 
Indians. Under De Chatte, the governor of Dieppe, who had 
succeeded to the privileges of la Roche, in 1603, he fitted out 
an expedition to those regions, associating with him the famous 
Samuel de Champlain, a skilful naval officer, who had served 
with high repute in the East Indies. 

They reached the Great River, and, leaving their ships at 
Tadoussac, explored it for a distance equal to that passed by 
Cartier. The town of Ilochelaga, so populous and flourishing 
in the days of that navigator, had, by this time, it would seem, 
dwindled into insignificance or disappeared altogether. Such 



374 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

is the brief and uncertain tenure by which man, in a state of 
barbarism, holds the association which alone can supply his 
wants and elevate his intellect, 

Champlain returned to France, where he found his patron 
De Chatte dead, and the government of Canada transfer- 
red to the Sieur de Monts, a Calvinist. The new patentee 
fitted out four ships, and, with Champlain and many other 
adventurers, in 1604, proceeded to the island of St. Croix, 
where he wintered; the scurvy, as usual, making terrible rav- 
ages among his people. He then removed to Port Royal 
(now Annapolis in Nova Scotia) and erected a fort there. 
This settlement, under the judicious management of M. Pout- 
trincourt and others, continued to increase and prosper until the 
year 1614, when it was attacked and broken up by a hostile 
force from Virginia, under Sir Samuel Argall. 

Champlain, in 1608, was again dispatched with two vessels, 
for purposes of trade at Tadoussac. But that far-sighted adven- 
turer, unsatisfied with the mere profits of traffic, had resolved 
to use every exertion for the foundation of a French colony 
on the beautiful shores of the St. Lawrence. After a careful 
and minute survey, he arrived at the spot near which, three- 
quarters of a century before, Jacques Cartier had passed his 
first winter — the splendid headland of Quebec. "This mag- 
nificent position was at once chosen by Champlain as the site 
of the future capital of Canada; centuries of experience have 
proved the wisdom of the selection; admirably situated for 
purposes of war or commerce, and completely commanding 
the navigation of the Great River, it stands in the centre of a 
scene of beauty that can no where be surpassed," 

This was early in July ; and before the winter came on, per- 
manent buildings had been erected, and the fertility of the soil 
had been tested by cultivation. Snow lay on the ground from 
the first of December to the end of April, and the few Indians of 
the neighborhood, the miserable remains of the once-friendly 
tribe of Donnacona, suffered wretchedly from privation. 

In April, (1609) on the breaking up of the cold season, 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 375 

Cliainplain set out on an excursion up the river, accompanied 
bj a party of friendly Algonquins, then on a war-path against 
their ancient and inveterate enemies, the Iroquois, With very 
httle scruple, he entered into their bloody plans, and agreed to 
assist them in their projected attack. They reached the mouth 
of a river running from the south (the St. John) and passed up 
it into a beautiful lake, on which the Frenchman bestowed his 
own name — a name which it still retains — the Champlain. 
Passing to its southern extremity, this party of marauders 
entered upon a smaller sheet of water, now known as lake 
George. A desperate fight with two hundred Iroquois warriors 
took place on its shores. The latter were intrenched in a hast- 
ilj^-constructed fort; but the deadly weapons and the skilful 
manoeuvres of the French secured the victory to their allies. 
A number of the enemy were killed, and ten or twelve were 
taken prisoners. These, despite the remonstrances of Cham- 
plain, were put to death with the abominable tortures com- 
monly practised among the savage tribes of North America. 
Their heads were carefully preserved as trophies, and, to grace 
the barbarous festivities of triumph, Champlain was persuaded 
to bestow on his ferocious companions several copies of the 
Pater noster^ or Lord's prayer! which, it would seem, they 
held in great and mysterious veneration, probably regarding it 
as a "medicine" of no common power. 

That the celebration of their victory, on the return, was 
conducted in a sufficiently savage style, may well be imagined; 
for, on such occasions, we are told, "If they haue any of their 
enemies' heads or armes, they will carrie them (as a iewell) 
about their necks, whiles they dance, sometimes biting the samey 
Champlain returned to France, where he was received with 
much favor by the king (Henry IV.); and in 1610, again sailed 
for the St. Lawrence. He reached the Saguenay in the won- 
derfully short time of eighteen da3's — a passage which may 
well lead us to doubt whether the art of ship-building, at this 
time, was not much farther advanced than is generally sup- 
posed. He found the little colony of Quebec prosjoerous, and,, 



876 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

with strange want of principle or of policy, joined another suc- 
cessful war party of his allies against the Iroquois. At this time, 
he laid the foundation of a small settlement at Montreal — the 
germ of one of the richest and most beautiful cities in America. 

In another voyage, (1613,) he sailed up to Montreal, and 
explored for a considerable distance the majestic stream of the 
Ottawa. In the following year, he succeeded in incorporating 
a company in France, for the furtherance of colonization. He 
sailed again, and reached Montreal, where he found the Hu- 
rons and his other allies engaged in a grand expedition against 
their enemies at the south. He accompanied them as usual, 
but, despite his assistance, they were defeated, and compelled 
to retreat with much loss and disgrace. They carried off their 
wounded, but in a truly-barbarous manner. "Their bodies," 
we are told, "were bent into a circular fqxifi, bound with cords, 
and thrown into a basket, where tli^y lay like infants in swad- 
ling clothes, unable to stir hand or foot. Champlain feelingly 
describes the agonies he endured while carried twenty-five or 
thirty leagues in this position; on being relieved from which, 
he felt as if he had come out of a dungeon." In this expedi- 
tion, however, he added considerably to his knowledge of the 
country, and even reached the lakes Nipissing and Huron. 

In the prosecution of his schemes for colonization, he was 
compelled repeatedly to visit France, but could obtain com- 
paratively little assistance, either from the crown or the com- 
pany. Nothing but his personal energy and assiduity pre- 
served the settlements from abandonment. Religious dissensions 
between the Catholics and Huguenots also distracted the little 
colony, and Champlain, a zealous Romanist, was continually 
scandalized by the heresies of his people. To his grief, he 
was compelled to allow some parts of their uncanonical ritual 
to be used on board his ship — compromising with his con- 
science by strictly forbidding the singing of any heretical 
hymns. "They were almost two-thirds Huguenots," he says, 
apologizing even for the least concession; "so of a bad debt, 
•one must take what payment he can get." 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 877 

In 1621, the Iroquois, excited bj past injuries received at 
the hands of the French, sent three strong parties to attack 
their settlements ; but were unable to accomplish more than a 
massacre of many of their Huron enemies. Soon afterwards 
Champlain built a stone fort for the protection of Quebec, 
which then numbered only fifty souls. Ere long, however, 
the settlement received a considerable accession. 

In 1627, a new company was formed, which undertook, 
within sixteen years, to introduce as many thousand of emi- 
grants into New France. Misfortune, however, attended its 
operations, and, two years afterwards, Quebec was taken by 
the English, with whom it remained until 1632. Canada, by 
the treaty of St. Germain, was then restored to the French, 
but its value to' the mother-country, except for trnffic and 
fishery, seemed almost nominal. "At this period, the fort of 
Quebec, surrounded by a score of hastily-built dwellings and 
barracks, some poor huts on the island of Montreal, the like 
at Three Eivers and Tadoussac, and a few fishermen's log- 
houses elsewhere on the banks of the St. Lawrence, were the 
only fruits of the discoveries of Yerrazano, Jacques Cartier, 
Roberval, and Champlain, the great outlay of La Roche and 
De Monts, and the toils and sufferings of their followers, for 
nearly a certtury." 

In the following year Champlain was appointed governor 
of New France, and set sail thither with many respectable 
settlers — carefully excluding heretics, however, from the com- 
pany. He took with him two Jesuits, whose object was the 
conversion of the Indians — an object so completely accom- 
plished by their successors. The colony now began to assume 
a more prosperous aspect; but its founder did not long sur- 
vive to enjoy his honors and the success of his life-long under- 
taking. He died in 1535, leaving a high renown for courage, 
for patient and indefatigable industry, and for fervent piety — 
the latter, it seems to us, hardly deserved, considering his un- 
principled interference in Indian warfare, and his bigoted 
exclusion of Protestant settlers from the forlorn refuge of the 



378 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

Canadian wilderness. He certainly bequeathed to the state 
which he had founded with so much pains and perseverance, 
a deep and deadly native hostility, destined to involve it, at a 
later period, in almost total destruction. 

"To him," however, says an elegant author, "belongs the 
glory of planting Christianity and civilization among the 
snows of those northern forests; during his life, indeed, a 
feeble germ, but, sheltered by his vigorous arm — nursed by 
his tender care — the root struck deep. Little more than two 
centuries have passed since the faithful servant went to rest 
upon the field of his noble toils. And now a million and a 
half of Christian people dwell in peace and plenty upon that 
magnificent territory, which his zeal and wisdom first redeemed 
from the desolation of the wilderness." 




SiK Wai.tk u Ham; I en. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA, 

AND THE LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER I. 

TARDINESS OF ENGLISH ENTERPRISE SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT AND SIR 

"WALTER RALEIGH THEIR UNSUCCESSFUL EXPEDITIONS DEATH OF 

SIR HUMPHREY EXPEDITIONS DISPATCHED BY RALEIGH ALL 

DISASTROUS — ABANDONMENT OF THE ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE. 

In the grand race of American colonization, England, for a 
century, was left far behind by her enterprising rivals, Spain, 
Portugal, France, and Holland. The feeble resources of her 
marine, and the lives and energies of her bravest navigators, 
had been, for a long time, sacrificed in futile efforts to gain the 
shores of India, by passing to the north of the Asiatic conti- 
nent, or in the still more forlorn attempt to reach them b}^ the 
terrible North-west Passage — a name, for three centuries, of 
such deadly omen, but destined, in our own day, to acquire its 
saddest association in the unrecorded fate of the gallant Frank- 
lin and his brave companions. 

The name most conspicuous as the early patron of English 
enterprise in the New World is that of Sir Walter Raleigh. 
In a work of this nature, the splendid military and civil career, 
and the lamentable end of that famous knight, must be passed 
over, while his services and his indefatigable zeal for Ameri- 
can colonization may be briefly commemorated. 

His half-brothers. Sir Humphrey and Sir Adrian Gilbert, 
had been, while he was yet a youth, deeply interested in the 
cause of discovery and settlement in the New World, and the 



380 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

former had written an elaborate treatise, predicated on the tes- 
timony of "many learned men and painfull travellers," "to 
proove by experience of sundrie men's travels the opening of 
some part of this North West passage; whereby good hope 
remaineth of the rest." 

Heretofore, the prospect of a passage by the north of Asia 
had seemed most hopeful to men of enterprise, and this opin- 
ion had been fortified by the finding of a certain horn on the 
dreary coast of Tartary, which horn, it was argued, must be 
that of a unicorne, ("which animal groweth only in India") 
and, tlierefore^ must have been brought by the tides (!) to the 
place where it had been discovered. This position was con- 
troverted by Sir Humphrey, who also shrewdly remarks, in 
his treatjpe, that "as Albertus saieth, there is 2^jish which hath 
but one home in his forehead like to a Unicorne, and therefore 
it seemeth very doubtfull both from whence it came, and 
whether it loere a Unicorne's home, yea or no." 

In 1578, he obtained from Queen Elizabeth permission to 
plant a colony in any part of North America not occupied by 
her allies; and Ealeigh, then twenty-six years old, joined in 
the enterprise. He had always taken a deep interest in the 
history of the New World, and the thrilling narratives of 
Columbus, Cortes, and other early adventurers, had been the 
favorite studies of his youth. Various misfortunes delayed 
and weakened the expedition; and when, at last, it set sail, 
one of the two vessels of which it consisted, was captured by 
the Spaniards, and the other returned without having accom- 
plished any thing toward colonization. 

After an interval of some years, distinguished by his rapid 
rivse in the royal favor, Raleigh again joined his brother in a 
new and more extensive enterprise. He built a vessel of two 
hundred tons, which he called the Bark Raleigh, proposing to 
act as vice-admiral in the squadron which Sir Humphrey had 
fitted out, and of which he had command. Elizabeth, to express 
her ap})roval of their enterprise, bestowed on the latter a small 
anchor of beaten gold, with a great pearl at the point, which, 




qU y.EJ^ F.LlZJiBKTH. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 381 

during tlie brief remainder of his life, he wore conspicuously 
upon his breast. There were five sail in all, and two hundred 
and sixty men, including artisans and refiners for the precious 
metals which it was expected to find. They had on board, 
says one of the captains, "Musike in great variety; not omit- 
ting the least toyes, as Morris-dancers, hobby-horse, and the like 
conceits, to delight the savage people, whom we intended to 
win by all faire means possible." The first destination of the 
fleet was Newfoundland. 

On the 11th of June, 1583, Raleigh, in his own vessel, set 
sail; but after a few days was compelled to return by the 
breaking out of a contagious fever, which attacked nearly the 
whole ship's company. Sir Humphrey, with the remainder 
of the squadron, proceeded to Newfoundland, of which he 
took formal possession, by digging up a turf, in the queen's 
name. He discovered a silver mine, and freighted one of his 
vessels with the ore, but she was lost on the return passage. 
After planting a small colony there, the fleet set sail to the 
eastward, and was soon involved in terrible storms and tem- 
pests. Sir Humphrey had chosen to sail in a little vessel 
called the Squirrel, a mere cockle-shell in size, the smallest in 
the squadron. In vain did the officers of the Hinde, the 
largest, entreat him, in this dangerous weather, to shift his flag 
aboard their ship. He came on board, for a convivial meeting, 
but returned to his slender craft, saying, "I will not desert 
my little company, with whom I have passed so many storms 
and perils." 

1'he weather grew heavier and heavier; the oldest sailors 
declaring that they had never seen such seas — "breaking very 
high," says a spectator, "and pyramid-wise" — the very worst 
sea that is known. Lights were burned at night, and the lit- 
tle Squirrel, for a long time, was seen gallantly contending 
with the waves, which almost ingulfed her. Once she came 
so near that they of the Ilinde could see Sir Humphrey sitting 
by the mainmast, with a book in his hand, reading. He 
looked up, and cried cheerily, " We are as near heaven by 



382 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

water as by land!" But the seas broke over her more heavily ; 
«ill at once the lights were extingviished; and in the morning, 
nothing was seen of the good Sir Humphrey or his little ship. 
She had doubtless been whelmed by the toppling down of some 
huge pyramid of water. Such was the melancholy but hon- 
orable end of one of the worthiest and most persevering 
patrons of English enterprise. He perished in the pursuance 
of his own exalted maxim: "That he is not worthy to live at 
all, who, for fear or danger of death, shunneth his country's 
service, or his own honor; for death is inevitable and fame 
immortal." 

Undismayed by the loss of his brother, and the misfortunes 
of the expedition, Ealeigh immediately prepared for a fresh 
enterprise; and, by his court-interest, obtained letters-patent 
from the queen, empowering him to discover and colonize 
"such remote, heathen, and barbarous lands as are not actu- 
ally possessed by any Christian, nor inhabited by any Chris- 
tian }wople." No particular part of the world was specified 
in this somewhat extensive grant. 

Accordingly, in 1584, he fitted out two vessels at his own 
charge, under the command of Amidas and Barlow, experi- 
enced captains, and dispatched them to the coast of North 
America. They were two months in getting there by the cir- 
cuitous passage of the Canaries and the West Indies — which, 
strange to say, for many years was supposed to be the only prac- 
ticable route. They reached the coast of Carolina, penetrated 
Ocracoke inlet, and took formal possession in the name of their 
sovereign. No settlement was at this time attempted, but 
they brought a favorable report of the soil and climate; and 
Ealeigh, by the royal command, bestowed on his new acquisi- 
tion the name of "Virginia," in honor of the "Maiden Queen." 
This term, since restricted to a single state, was for a long time 
applied by the English to nearly all the eastern provinces. 

An hundred and eight men, under Sir llalph Lane, were 
sent out, the next year, to form a colony. They settled on 
the island of Roanoke, but, after a year's stay, returned, dis- 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 383 

appointed in their hopes, to England,* Sir Richard Grenville, 
in 1588, left fifty men there; but they perished miserably, 
and their remains were afterwards discovered, a wretched spec- 
tacle, among the ruins of their habitations. Again and again 
did the indefatigable Raleigh dispatch expeditions to colonize 
the distant region, which, with a prophetic eye, he saw des- 
tined to such futuYe greatness. All proved disastrous, and, 
after having sent out four fleets, and expended forty thou- 
sand pounds of his estate on the enterprise, he was corn];)elled 
to reliuquisii it, and to assign most of his rights to certain 
merchants of London. In 1587 a single child, named, in honor 
of the country, Virginia, had been born there; but great 
numbers of the unfortunate settlers perished from want, dis- 
ease, and the attacks of the savages. This colony, it would 
seem, was entirely destroyed. The attempt, so repeatedly dis- 
astrous, was finally relinquished, and "all hopes of Virginia 
thus abandoned," says a later adventurer, "it lay dead and 
obscured from 1590 till this year 1602. " 

At that time, Bartholomew Gosnold made his voyage across 
the Atlantic, and, after an absence of four months, returned 
with a cargo of sassnfrds. Other commercial expeditions, 
moderately successful, ensued, and in 1604 the scheme of Vir- 
ginian colonization was revived. But before entering on a 
relation of this, the first successful attempt to plant an Phiglish 
colony on the shores of the New World, it is proper to give 
some account of that renowned pioneer, whose name is so in- 
separably connected with the early history of America. His 
life, detailed mainly by his own ])en, with modest quaintness, 
presents a series of exploits and adventures, perhaps the most 
marvellous recorded in biography. 

* "At Aquafco/^f)^" Hiiys Sir Ralph, "the Indians stole a Siluer Cup, where- 
fore we hvrrit the Towne and spoijled their corns" &c. A fair sample of the 
usual conduct of all European settlers. 



384 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH HIS YOUTHFUL SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE SERVES 

IN HOLLAND TURNS HERMIT — HIS ADVENTURES IN FRANCE — DIS- 
TRESSES SAILS FOR ITALY IS FLUNG OVERBOARD — SAILS 

TO EGYPT SEA-FIGHT TRAVELS IN ITALY, ETC. — FIGHTS 

AGAINST THE TURKS DEVICES OF FIREWORKS. 

Captain John Smith, tlie most famous of Anglo-American 
adventurers, was born of an ancient and honorable family, at 
"Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, in the year 1579. From his 
boyhood, he was of a daring and enterprising spirit. At the 
age of thirteen, to use the language of his narrative, (which, 
like Cffisar's, runs modestly in the third person,) "his mind 
being set on brave adventures, he sould his Satchel!, bookes, 
and all he had, intending secretly to get to Sea, but that his 
fathers death stayed him." His guardians bound him appren- 
tice to one Sendall, of Lynn, "the greatest merchant of all 
those parts; but because hee would not presently send him to 
Sea, he never sawe his master in eight yeers afterwards." 

Quitting the counting-house, he went to France with his 
young patron, the son of Lord Willoughby, and thence passed 
into the Low Countries, then distracted by the wars with the 
Spaniards. Here he entered the service of an English adven- 
turer, Capt. Joseph Duxbury, and served with him for three 
or four years — under Prince Maurice, it is probable, in his gal- 
lant and successful struggle for the independence of the Neth- 
erlands. Thence he sailed for Scotland, and, after shipwreck 
and dangerous illness at the Holy Isle, arrived at his destina- 
tion. Disa])pointed in his hopes of preferment at the Scottish 
court, he returned to AVilloughby, "where," to use his own 
words, "within a short time, being glutted with too much 
comj)any, wherein he took small delight, he retired hiinselfe 
into a little woodie pnsture, a goode way from any towne, in- 
vironcd with many hundred Acres of other woodos; Here, by 
a faire Brooke, he built a Pavillion of boughes, where only in 




( .-7 /' r .1 i.v .1 o II .V s M I r II . 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 885 

his cloaths he lay. Ilis studie was Machiavills Art of Warre, 
and Marcus Aitrelius; his exercise a good horse, with his lance 
and Ring; his food was thought to he more of venison than any 
thing else; what he wanted his man brought him. The Coun- 
trey wondering at such an llermite. * * * * Long these 
pleasures could not content him, but hee returned againe to the 
Low Countries" — intending thence to find his way to the seat 
of Eastern warfare, and, like a good Christian, to fight against 
the Turks. 

There (being yet only nineteen,) he fell in with four rascally 
French adventurers, who persuaded him, with fair promises, to 
take ship with them for France. In a dark night, they ar- 
rived at a port in Picardy, where, by the knavery of the mas- 
ter, they were set on shore with Smith's baggage, and made 
good their retreat — "which treacherous villany, when divers 
other souldiers and passengers understood, they had like to have 
slaine the Master, and had they knowne how, would have 
runne away with the ship." Selling his cloak to pay for his 
passage, he went ashore, and, befriended by a fellow-passenger, 
went in search of his despoilers. He was finally reduced to 
great distress, and, "wandring from port to port to finde some 
man of war, spent that he had, and, in a Forest, neere dead 
with griefe and cold, a rich Farmer found him by a faire 
Fountaine under a tree. This kinde Pesant releeved him 
againe to his content." 

Soon after, "passing thorow a great Grove of trees," he fell 
in with Cursell, one of the sharpers who had robbed him. 
"His piercing injuries had so small patience, as without any 
word they both drew, and in a short time Cursell fell to the 
ground, where from an old ruinated Tower the inhabitants 
seeing them, were satisfied, when they heard Cursell confesse 
what had formerly passed." 

After achieving this comfortable revenge. Smith betook 
himself to the noble earl of Ployer, (whom he had known in 
England,) at his seat in Brittany, by whom he was kindly re- 
ceived and hospitably entertained. Thence he travelled over 
25 



S8l) NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

a considemblc part of France, surveying strongholds and other 
phiees worthy of note, and (iiially found himself at Marseilles. 
Here, ever bent on adventure, he embarked for Italy — and, to 
his misfortune, aboard a vessel crowded with a rabble route of 
pilgrims, "of divei'S nations," going to Home, fleeting with 
much foul weather, the ship anchored nnder the isle of St. 
Mary, off Nice. The pilgrims and "inhumane Provincialls" 
now sagely concluded that the heretic Englishman was their 
Jonah, and forthwith set on him, "hourely cursing him, 
not onely for a IJuijonoit, but his Nation they swore were all 
Pyrats, and so vildly railed on his dread Soveraigne, Queen 
JJlizahet/i, and that the}' never should have faire weather so 
long as hee was aboard them; their dispuUitions grew to that 
passion, that they threw him over board, yet God brought him 
to that little Isle, where was no inhabitants but a few kine 
and goats." 

The next morning, however, he was taken on board a 
French ship, commanded by one Captain La Roche, (a friend 
of Ployer's, as it happened,) and was generously entertained. 
He sailed with his deliverer along the coast of Africa *to Alex- 
andria, where the ship delivered her freight, and whence she 
passed over to the coasts of Greece and Italy. Here they met 
a great Venetian argosy, which the French captain hailed — 
with what purpose does not exactly appear; but it is probable 
that all was fish which came to his net. The rest of the story 
may be told by the gallant Smith himself. The suspicious 
Yenetian, it seems, returned "an answer so untoward as slew 
them a man ; whereupon the Britaine presently gave them the 
broad-side, then his Sterne, and his other broad-side also, and 
continued the chase, with his chase-peeces, till he gave them 
so many broad-sides, one after another, that the J.r</o.>fit\< sayles 
and tackling were so tome, she stood to her defence, and 
made shot for shot; twice in one houre and a halfe the Bri- 
taine boarded her, yet they cleared themselves, but clapping 
her aboard againe, the Argosie fired him, which with much 
danger to them both was presently quenched. This rather 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 387 

augmented the Britaines rage than abated his courage; for, hav- 
ing reaccornrnodated hirnselfe againe, shot her so oft betweene 
wind and water, shee was readie to sinke, then they yeelded; 
the Britaine lost fifteene men, shee twentie, besides divers were 
hurt, the rest went to worke on all hands; some to stop the 
leakes, others to guard the prisoners that were chained, the 
rest to rifle her. The Silkes, Velvets, Cloth of Gold, and 
Tissue, Pyasters, Chicqueenes, and Sultanies, which is golde 
and silver, they unloaded in foure and twentie houres, was 
wonderfull, whereof having sufficient, and tired with toile, 
they cast her off with her company, with as much good mer- 
chandise as woulde have fraughted another Brit/iine^ that was 
but two hundred Tunnes, shee foure or five hundred." 

After this notable victory, Smith, at his request, was set on 
shore in Piedmont, with five hundred chicqueenes, as a reward 
for his valor, "and a little box God sent him" (he adds pious- 
ly,) "worth neere as much more." Flushed with his success, 
he travelled through much of Italy, and in Tuscany "hee 
found his deare friends, the two Honorable brethren, the Lord 
Willoughby and his Brother cruelly wounded, in a desperate 
fray, yet to their exceeding great honour." Next he proceeds 
to Pome, "where it was his chance to see Pope Clement the 
eight, with many Cardinalls, creepe up the holy Stayres." 
Thence he visited Naples, and many other cities, "spending 
some time" (with a fine eye for scenery) "to see that broken 
barren coast of Albania and Dalmatia," and finally, ever mind- 
ful of his vow to fight against the Turks, arrived at Gratz, in 
Styria, where was the court of the Archduke Ferdinand of 
Austria, afterwards emperor of Germany. 

Ilere Smith fell in with two of his roving countrymen, who 
introduced him to Lord Eberspaught, Earl Meldritch, and 
other officers of high distinction in the imperial army. The 
war with the Great Turk, Mahomet IIL, was just then hotly 
raging; and the courage and talents of the young adventurer 
had an ample field for their display. One of his first exploits 
was at the siege of Olympach, where, by means of telegraphic 



388 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

fires he contrived a plan with the besieged, by which the 
Turks, with great slaughter, were compelled to raise the siege. 
For this important service, he received the command of two 
hundred and fifty men in the regiment of the famous Earl 
Ikleldritch. The chapters in his narrative containing an ac- 
count of the successful devices which he invented are headed, 
" An excellent stratagem by Smith ; another not much worse. 
A prett}' stratagem of fire-works by Smith," &c., &c. 

In 1601, the war raged with great fury, and at the siege of 
Stowlle-Wesenburg, the ingenuity of our hero devised a truly 
infernal method of annoying the garrison. He prepared a 
large number of bombs or grenades, composed of a most 
abominable mixture of pitch, turpentine, tow, "campheer," 
linseed-oil, gunpowderj and brimstone, with rast numbers of 
bullets, cut into quarters. These diabolical contrivances, set 
on fire, he threw by means of slings into the thickest of the 
enemy. "At midnight, upon the Alarum," he says, "it was a 
fearfull sight to see the short flaming course of their flight in 
the aire, but presently after their fall, the lamentable noise of 
the miserable slaughtered Turkes was most wonderful to heare!" 
The town, though strongly fortified, was at last taken by 
storm, "with such a mercilesse execution, as was most pitifull 
to behold." It had been in possession of the Turks for nearly 
sixty years. 

In another bloody battle on the plain of Girke, they were 
again defeated, with the loss of six thousand men. Half of 
Meldritch's regiment, being in the thickest of the fight, was cut 
to pieces, and our friend Smith "had his horse slaine under 
him, and himselfe sore wounded: but he was not long un- 
mounted, ^or there was choice enough of horses that ivanted mastersP 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 



CHAPTER III. 

LIFE OF SMITH CO.NTINUED SIEGE OF REGALL HE KILLS THREE TtTRKS 

IN SINGLE COMBAT THE TOWN TAKEN — BATTLE OF ROTENTON 

SMITH A SLAVE SENT TO TARTARY— CRUELLY TREATED 

KILLS HIS MASTER AND ESCAPES SAILS FOR AFRICA 

SEA FIGHT RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 

In the mountains of Transylvania, in an almost impregnable 
situation, was a strong town called Regall, to which Prince Moj- 
ses and Earl Meldritch, with seventeen thousand men, laid close 
siege. It was defended by a strong garrison of "Turks, Tar- 
tars, Bandittoes, Rennegadoes, and such like," and, from the 
strength of its position, long bade defiance to the Christian 
arras. At this siege, our friend Smith performed one of the 
most brilliant and notable feats of arms ever recorded of so 
young a champion. He tells the story with such a quaint 
modesty, that his own language could ill be altered or ab- 
breviated. 

The besiegers, he says, "spent neere a month in entrenching 
themselves, and raising their mounts to plant their batteries; 
which slow proceedings the Turkes oft derided, that their Ord- 
nance was at pawne, and how they grew fat for want of exer- 
cise, and fearing lest they should depart ere they could assault 
their Citie, sent this Challenge to any Captaine in the Armie: 

" * 1'hat to delight the Ladies, who did long to see some court- 
like pastime, the Lord Turbashaiv did defie any Captaine that 
had the command of a Company, who durst combate with him 
for his head;' The Matter being di.scussed, it was accepted, but 
so many questions grew for the undertaking, it was decided 
by lots, which fell upon Captaine Smithy before spoken of 

"Truce being made for that time, the Rampiers all beset 
with faire Dames, and Men in arms, the Christians in Battalio; 
Turbashaw, with a noise of Ilowboyes, entred the field, well 
mounted and armed; on his shoulders were fixed a paire of 
great wings, compacted of Eagles feathers within a ridge of 



390 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

silver, riclilj garnished witli gold and precious stones, a Tani- 
zary before him, bearing his lance, on each side another lead- 
ing his horse; where long hee stayed not, ere SinitJi, with a 
noise of Trumpets, only a page bearing his lance, passing by 
him with a courteous salute, tooke his ground with such goode 
successe, that at the sound of the charge, he passed the Turke 
thorow the sight of his Beaver, face, head and all, that he fell 
dead to the ground, where, alighting and unbracing his Helmet, 
cut off his head, and the Turhes tooke his body; and so returned 
without any hurt at all. The head hee presented to the Lord 
Moyses, the Generall, who kindly accepted it, and with joy to 
the whole armie he was generally welcomed. 

"The death of this Captaine so swelled in the heart of one 
Grualgro, his vowed friend, as rather inraged with madnesse 
than choller, he directed a particular Challenge to the Con- 
querour, to regaine his friends head or lose his owne, with his 
horse and Armour for advantage, which according to his de- 
sire was the next day undertaken ; as before, upon the sound 
of the Trumpets, their lances flew in peeces upon a cleare pass- 
age, but the Turke was neere unhorsed. Their Pistolls was 
the next, which marked Smith upon the placard; but the next 
shot, the Turke was so wounded in the left arme, that being 
not able to rule his horse and defend himselfe, he was throwne 
to the ground, and so bruised with the fall, that he lost his 
head, as his friend before him; with his horse and Armour; 
but his body and his rich apparell was sent backe to the Towne. 
"Every day the Turkes made some sallies, but few skir- 
mishes would they endure to any purpose. Our workes and 
approaches being not yet advanced to that height and elTect 
which was of necessitie to be performed; to delude time. 
Smith, with many incontradictable perswading reasons, ob- 
tained leave that the Ladies might know he was not so much 
enamoured of their servants heads, but if any Turke of their 
ranke would come to the place of combate to redeeme tliem, 
should have his also upon the like conditions, if he coulde 
winne it. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 391 

" The challenge presently was accepted by Bonny Mulgro. 
The next day, both of the Cham{)ions entring the field as be- 
fore, each discharging their Pistoll, having no Lances, but such 
martiall weapons as the Defendant appointed, no hurt was 
done; their Battle-axes was the next; whose piercing bils 
made sometime the one, sometime the other to have scarce 
sense to keepe their saddles, specially the Christian received 
such a blow that he lost his Battle-axe, and failed not much to 
have fallen after it, whereat the supposed conquering Turke 
had a great shout from the Rampiers. The Tarlce prosecuted 
his advantage to the uttermost of his power; yet the other, 
what by the readinesse of his horse, and his judgment and 
dexteritie in such a businesse, beyond all mens expectation, by 
God's assistance, not onely avoided the Tarkes violence, but 
having drawne his Faulchion, pierced the Turke so under the 
Culets, thorow backe and body, that, although he alighted 
from his horse, he stood not long ere hee lost his head, as the 
rest had done. 

" This good successe gave such great encouragement to the 
whole Armie, that with a guard of six thousand, three spare 
horses, before each a Tarkes head upon a lance, he- was con- 
ducted to the Generall's Pavillion with his Presents. Moyses 
received both him and them with as much respect as the occa- 
sion deserved, embracing him in his arms, gave him a faire 
Ilorsc richly furnished, a Semitere" (scimitar) "and belt worth 
three hundred ducats; and Meldritch made him Sergeant- 
major of his Regiment." 

The town, despite a desperate defence, was at last taken by 
stortn, and the Turks took refuge in the Castle. "The Earle 
remembering his father's death, battered it with all the Ord- 
nance in the Towne, and the next day took it; all he found 
could beare Armes he put to the sword, and set their heads 
upon stakes round about the walles, in the same manner as 
they had used the Christians when they tooke it." This and 
other notable victories being achieved, Sigismund of Transyl- 
vania came to congratulate his successful generals; and in ac- 



S92 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

knowledgment of the exploits of Smith, "with great honour 
hee gave him three Turkes heads in a Shield for his Armes, by 
Patent, under his hand and Scale, with an Oath ever to weare 
them in his Colours, his Picture in Gould, and three hundred 
Ducats yeercly for a Pension." This patent was admitted and 
recorded in the Heralds' College in England, and the heathen- 
ish device of the three Turks' heads, in quaint and grisly por- 
traiture, figures conspicuously in the narrative of his exploits, 

In the desperate battle of Rotenton, where the army of Mel- 
dritch, "environed by a hellish number" of Turks and Tar- 
tars, was mostly cut to pieces, the cause of the Christiana 
received an almost fatal shock. At the end of that terrible 
day, says our author, "in this bloudy field, neere 30,000 lay, 
some headlesse, armelesse, and leglesse, all cut and mangled; 
where, breathing their last, they gaue this knowledge to the 
world, that for the lines of so few, tlie Crym-Tartar neuer 
paid dearer." Among the victims of that fatal day were a 
number of Englishmen, duly commemorated by our author, 
who all "did what men could doe, and when they could doe 
no more, left there their bodies in testimonie of their mindes. 
* * ^ But Smith among the slaughtered dead bodies, and 
many a gasping soule, with toile and woundes lay groaning 
among the rest." Here the pillagers found him half alive, 
and, being cured of his wounds, he was sold, with many 
others, as a slave, at Axopolis. 

His purchaser, the Bashaw Bogall, sent him to Constanti- 
nople, as a present to his young mistress, Charatza Tragabig- 
zanda, with the assurance that he was a Bohemian lord, cap- 
tured, with many others, by the prowess of her lover in the 
wars. This kindly young creature, it would seem, took a 
warm interest in his fortunes, and, lest her mother should sell 
him, sent him off to her brother, Timour, the Bashaw of Nal- 
britz, in Tartary, near the sea of Azof In her letter to this 
brother, she imprudently betrayed her feelings, and the exas 
perated Bashaw, "within an houre after his arrival!, caus'd 
his Drub-inan to strip him naked, and shave his head and 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 393 

beard so bare as his hand, a great ring of iron, with a long 
stalke bowed like a sickle, ri vetted about his neck, and a coat 
made of Vlgries haire, guarded about with a peece of an un- 
drest skinne." Here the unfortunate Smith, with many others, 
underwent a slavery "so bad, a dog could hardly have lived 
to endure, and yet for all their paines and labours no more 
regarded than a beast." 

During this miserable captivity, he observed (and has 
recorded in his narrative) many curious and valuable particu- 
lars concerning the Crym Tartars and their country; indeed, 
whatever his situation, the shrewd and observant traveller is 
ever uppermost. His final escape from this detestable bond- 
age, due, as usual, to his own courage and sagacity, may be 
best delivered in his own curt and forcible language. 

" All the hope he ever had to be delivered from this thral- 
dome, was only the love of Tragabigzanda, who surely was 
ignorant of his bad usage; for although he had often debated 
the matter with some Christians, that had beene there a long 
time slaves, they coulde not finde how to make an escape, by 
any reason or possibility ; but God, beyonde mans expectation 
or imagination, helpeth his servants, when they least thiidce of 
helpe, as it hapned to him. So long he lived in this miserable 
estate, as he became a thresher at a grange in a great field, 
more than a league from the Tymours house; the Bashaw, as 
he used often to visit his granges, visited him, and tooke occa- 
sion so to beat, spurne, and revile him, that forgetting all reason, 
he beat out the Tymours braines with his threshing bat, for 
they have no flailes; and seeing his estate could be no worse 
than it was, clothed himself in his clothes, hid his body under 
the straw, filled his knapsacke with corne, mounted his horse, 
and ranne into the desart at all adventure." 

For several days he wandered in this desolate region, dread- 
ing to meet a human being. At length, by great good fortune, 
he lighted on the main road which leads from Tnrtary to Rus- 
sia, and after a most perilous and fatiguing jonrncy of sixteen 
days, passed "in fear and torment," arrived at Kcojiolis, a Kus- 



394 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

sian garrison on the river Don. Here he was kindly relieved 
by the governor, and, being refreshed, set forth for Transyl-- 
vania. Such was the fame of his exploits, and the friendli- 
ness of the authorities that "in all his life, he seldome met 
with more respect, mirth, content, and entertainment ; and not 
any Gouernour where he came, but gave him somewhat as a 
present, besides his charges," 

Great was the rejoicing at his return, and, "glutted with 
content, and neere drowned with joy," he made his way to 
Prague, where the generous Sigismund gave him fifteen hun- 
dred ducats of gold, and an honorable dismission from his ser- 
vice. He thence travelled through Germany, France, and 
Spain, visiting, as usual, the most notable places, and treasur- 
ing up much varied information. He sailed in a French ship 
to Africa, and went to Morocco, intending to fight in the civil 
wars which distracted that kingdom; "but by reason of the 
uncertaintie, and the perfidious, treacherous, bloudy murthers 
rather than warre, among those perfidious, barbarous Iloores,''^ 
relinquished the design. 

He went to pass a jolly evening on board the ship, with his 
friend, Captain Merham, and presently a gale of wind came 
on, which compelled them to slip their cable and run to sea. 
Fortune, as usual, had an adventure for the captain. The 
Frenchman speedily fell in with two Spanish men of war, and 
"a brave sea-fight," lasting for two days, commenced. When 
they summoned him to surrender, Merham, "the old fox," (as 
his friend Smith calls him,) "dranke to them, and so discharged 
his quarter-peeces." The Spaniards, after repeated attempts to 
board their enemy, were finally beaten off", with a loss, it was 
supposed, of an hundred men. In this action, which was con- 
tested on both sides with the utmost desperation, we may be 
sure that Smith was not behind-hand. Soon after, he returned 
to England (1604). 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 895 



CHAPTER IV. 

NEW SCHEME FOR COLONIZING VIRGINIA ILL-ASSORTED ADVENTURERS 

THE EXPEDITION SAILS FROM ENGLAND PROCEEDS UP JAMES 

RIVER — INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS — SMITH ILL TREATED 

— FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN — EXCURSION OF SMITH 

KING POWHATAN THE INDIANS OF VIRGINIA 

THEIR CUSTOMS AND RELIGION. 

Not long after the return of our adventurer, he became 
intimate with Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, whose successful 
voyage, in 1602, had reawakened the public interest in Ameri- 
can enterprise. Both, animated by the love of adventure and 
the generous ambition of founding colonies in the wilderness, 
bestirred themselves actively in providing means for a fresh 
expedition to the shores of the New World. Several persons 
of wealth and influence entered into their plans, and in April, 
1606, letters patent were obtained from the king, James I., by 
Sir Thomas .Gates, Sir George Somers, and others, granting to 
them all the territory on the eastern sea-coast of North 
America, between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north lati- 
tude. Two companies were formed, but with a strict proviso, 
dictated by royal jealousy, that a hundred miles of wilderness 
should intervene between tlieir projected colonies. Only one 
of these companies (that of Virginia) made immediate exer- 
tion to take advantage of their grant; but under the auspices 
of the other, settlements in New England were afterwards 
commenced. • 

On the 19th of December, 1606, three small vessels, com- 
manded by Captain Christopher Newport, and bearing an 
hundred and five colonists, set sail from Blackwall, "but by 
vnprosperous winds were kept six weekes in the sight of Eng- 
land." With a ludicrous disproportion, considering the object 
of the enterpri.se, forty-eight of the company were enrolled as 
"gentlemen," and only twelve as laborers. A single mason 
and a single sailor were all that had been provided for the 



396 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

arduous labors of building and exploration. Moreover,- we 
are told by one of the company, "there were some few little 
better than Atheists, of the greatest ranke among us." The 
principal leaders were Gosnold and Smith, George Percy, Ed- 
ward Wingfield, and the Revd. Robert Hunt, Orders from 
the government were given them, in a sealed box, not to be 
opened until their arrival. 

At the Canaries, Smith, by the groundless jealousy of his 
associates, was accused of conspiring to make himself "king 
of Virginia," and was kept prisoner during the remainder of 
the voyage. They traded at the West Indies, and then steered 
for the island of Eoanoke, their proposed de^ination. By 
good fortune, however, a storm carried them past that inaus- 
picious region, and on the 26th, they espied land farther to 
the northward. It was the southern cape of Chesapeake Bay, 
and in honor of the Prince of Wales, they named it Cape 
Henry. They sailed up the James River about forty miles, 
delighted with the beauty of its banks, and went on shore. 
" Wc passed through excellent ground," says Percy, "full of 
flowers of divers kinds and colours, and as goodly trees as I 
have seen, as cedar, cypress, and other kinds; going a little 
further we came to a little plat of ground, fall of fine and beau- 
tiful strawberries, four times bigger and better than ours of 
England." 

On the very first day of their arrival, the colonists were 
attacked by certain savages, who came "creeping on all fours, 
from the hills, like Beares," but were driven oif by the dis- 
charge of musketry? At point Comfort, however, they were 
kindly received by the Indians of Kecoughtan, who gave 
them corn-bread, pipes and tobacco, and held a dance in honor 
of their arrival. In other tribes they found equal hospitality, 
and the chief of the Rappahannas, who invited them to his 
town, came forth with all his retinue to meet them. " His body 
was painted all with crimson, with a chain of beads about his 
neck; his face painted blue, besprinkled with silver ore, as we 
thought; his ears all bchung with bracelets of pearl, and in 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 397 

either ear a bird's claw through it, beset with fine copper or 
gold. He entertained us in so modest a proud fashion, as 
though he had been a prince of civill government, holding his 
countenance without any laughter, or any such ill behavior. 
He caused his mat to be spread on the ground, where he sat 
down with great majesty, taking a pipe of tobacco, the rest of 
his company standing around him." 

On the 13th of Ma}'', after a considerable survey of the 
shores, the Englishmen selected for the site of their settlement 
a peninsula on the north side of the river, to which, in honor 
of the king, they gave the name of Jamestown. More than a 
hundred years had elapsed, since Cabot, in his memorable 
voyage, had secured to England, by the right of discovery, 
the long extent of eastern sea coast; and this little colony, 
founded with such slender and ill-adapted means, was the first 
germ of that empire of so many millions which, in two cen- 
turies and a half, has included in its bounds the vast territo- 
ries lying between the two oceans. Its prosperity, and, for 
a long time, its very existence, hung upon the courage, the 
sagacity, and the fortitude, of the remarkable man whose his- 
tory we have sketched. 

On their landing, the sealed box had been opened, and it 
was found that Wingfield, Gosnold, Smith, Newport, and three 
others were named as constituting a council. The only reli- 
able man of the whole set, however, by the jealousy of his 
associates, was excluded from office; "the Councell was 
sworne, Mr. Wingfield was chosen President, and an Oration 
made, why Captaine Sndtli was not admitted of the Councell 
as the rest." All hands were set diligently at work, and the 
captain, despite his ill-treatment, eager to serve the interests 
of tlie colony, joined Newport in an expedition of discovery 
up the river. 

Many curious particulars concerning the Indians of Virginia 
have been given by the partakers of this and other enter- 
prises in the same direction. A general knowledge of the 
people inhabiting the adjacent regions was soon obtained. Of 



898 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the forty-three tribes occupying Virginia between the moun- 
tains and the sea, about thirty, numbering eight thousand 
souls, were under the rule of Powhatan,* the most warlike 
and powerful chieftain of the whole eastern shore. He had 
two places of abode, one called Powhatan, at the falls, where 
Richmond now stands, and the other, Werowocomoco, on the 
north side of York River. With the Mannahoacs, consist- 
ing of eight tribes, and the Monacans, of five, the power- 
ful confederacy over which he ruled was often engaged in 
warfare. 

After a voyage of six days, the explorers, twenty in num- 
ber, arrived at the falls, where they were received by the great 
chief with much apparent courtesy. "He is of personage," 
writes Captain Smith, "a tall, well-proportioned man, with a 
sower looke, his head somwhat gray, his bearde so thinne, it 
seemeth none at all, his age neere sixtie ; of a very able and 
hardy body to endure any labor." He was attended with 
much state, being always guarded by forty or fifty of the tall- 
est men of his country. Four sentinels were planted around 
his house at night, who, in token of their vigilance, were com- 
pelled every half hour to give the shrillest of whoops — "if 
any faile," says the captain, "they presently send forth an 
officer that beateth him extremely. * * It is strange," he 
proceeds, "to see with what great feare and adoration all these 
people doe obey this Powhatan. For at his feete they pre- 
sent whatsoever he commandeth, and at the least frowne of 
his brow, their greatest spirits will tremble with feare; and no 
marvell, for he is very tyrannous, and terrible in punishing 
such as offend him." The accounts of his cruelty are revolt- 
ing in the extreme — "Yet when he listeth, his will is a law, 
and must be obeyed ; not onely as a king, but as halfe a God 
they esteeme him." 

"A mile from Orapakes," continues the same narrator, "in 
a thicket of woode, he hath a house in which he keepeth his 

* The reiil name of this fiimons Indinri king was VVahunsonncoi'k, but, 
like a European grandee, he took his title from tlie chief place of his residence. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 399 

kinde of Treasure, as skinnes, copper, pearle, and beades, 
which he storeth vp against the time of his death and burialh 
Here also is his store of red paint for oyntment, bowes and ar- 
rowes, Targets and chibs. This house is fiftie or sixty yards 
in length, frequented onely by Priests. At the foure corners 
of this house, stand foure Images as Sentinells, one of a Dragon, 
an other a Beare, the third like a Leopard, and the fourth like 
a giant-like Man, all made evill favoredly, according to their 
best "workmanship." 

The natives of Virginia, at this time, appeared to have dif- 
fered little in their appearance, manners, and customs, from 
the remainder of the great Indian race which once inhabited 
our land. They lived by fishing and the chase, with some aid 
from their plantations, more comfortably than those dwelling in 
the less genial regions of New England. Their dresses were 
of skins, but they seem to have been exceedingly hardy in 
enduring the rigor of winter. Their children, from the earli- 
est age, they were accustomed to wash in the rivers, "and by 
painting and ointment so tanne their skinnes, that after a yeare 
or two, no weather will hurt them." 

Tattooing was commonly practised, and all manner of in- 
geniously savage devices were used for ornament. " In each 
eare," says one of the early settlers, "commonly they haue 3 
great holes, whereat they hang chains, bracelets, or copper: 
some weare in those holes a small Snake, coloured green and 
yellow, neare halfe a yard long, which crawling about his neck 
offereth to kisse his lippes. Others weare a dead rat tied by 
the taile." The rattles of rattlesnakes were common append- 
ages, and much red paint was used, both for adornment and 
protection to the person. " Many other formes of painting 
they vse, but he is the most gallant that is the most mon- 
strous to behold." 

Some of the tribes, as the Susquehannas, presented splendid 
specimens of manly figures. Sixty of these warriors once 
presented themselves before Captain Smith, in one of his ex- 
cursions. "Such great and well-proportioned men," he says, 



400 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

"are seldome seene, for they seemed like Giants to the Eng- 
lish, yet seemed of a honest and simple disposition, with much 
adoe restrained from adoring vs as gods, * * for their 
language it may well beseeme their proportions, sounding from 
them as a voyce in a vault. Their attire is the skinnes of 
Beares and Woolues, some haue Cassacks made of Beares 
heads and skinnes, that a mans head goes through the skinnes 
neck, and the eares of the Beare fastened to his shoulders, the 
nose and teeth hanging downe his breast, another Beares face 
split behind him, and at the end of the nose hung a Pawe, the 
halfe sleeues coming to the elbowes were the neckes of Beares, 
and the armes through the mouth with pawes hanging at their 
noses. One had the head of a Wolfe hanging in a chaine for 
a lewell, his Tobacco pipe, three quarters of a yarde long, 
prettily earned with a Bird, a Deere, or some such devise at 
the great end, suflicient to beat out ones braines. * * The 
picture of the greatest of them is signified in the Mappe. The 
calfe of whose leg was three quarters of a yard about, and all 
the rest of his limbs so answerable to that proportion, that he 
seemed the goodliest man we ever beheld." 

Smith, in his description of the Indians, also gives an amus- 
ing account of a great sham fight, which for his amusement, 
and to show the peculiarities of Indian warfare, the people of 
Powhatan performed at Mattapanient. The two parties, he 
says, each a hundred strong, approached each other in regular 
array, "all duly keeping their orders, yet leaping and singing 
after their accustomed tune, which they onely vse in Warres. 
Vpon the first flight of arrowes, they gaue such horrible shouts 
and schreeches, as so many infernall hell-hounds could not 
haue made them more terrible. When they had spent their 
arrowes, they ioyned together prettily, charging and retyring, 
every ranke seconding the other. As they got advantage, 
they catched their enemies by the hayre of the head, and 
downe came he that was taken. His enemy with his wooden 
sword seemed to beat out his braines, and still they crept to 
the Pcare to maintaine the skirmish. * * * _^\i i}^q[^ 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 401 

actions, voyces, and gestures, both in charging and retiring, 
were so strained to the height of their quahtie and nature, 
that the strangenesse thereof made it seeme very delightful!." 

Like every European adventurer of liis day, the captain could 
see nothing in Indian theology but the direct service of Satan. 
"Their cheefe God they worship," he says, "is the Devill. 
Him they call Okee, and serue him more of feare than loue. 
They say they haue conference with him, and fashion them- 
selues as neare to his shape as they can imagine. In their 
Temples they haue his Image evill-fauoredly carved, in such 
manner as the deformitie may well suit with such a God. * 
* * Vpon the top of certain red sandy hils in the woodes, 
there are three great houses filled with Images of their 
Kinges, and Devills, and Tombes of their predecessors. * * 
This place they count so holy as that but the Priests and 
Kings dare come into them; nor the Salvages dare not goe 
vp the river in boats by it, but they solemnly cast some peece 
of copper, white beads, or Pocones into the riuer." 

The chief priest, according to the same authority, wore an 
extraordinary piece of attire. "They tooke," he says, "a 
dosen or 16, or more snakes skinnes, and stuffed them with 
mosse, and of Weesels and other Vermines skinnes a good 
many. All these they tye hj their tailes, so as all their tailes 
meete in the top of the head like a great Tassell." Invested 
with this peculiar head-dress, and painted in diabolical fashion, 
that functionary went through his customary services — "some- 
times he maketh invocations with broken sentences by starts 
and strange passions, and at euerj^ pause, the rest giue a short 
groane" — probably the Indian "ugh!" signifying assent. 
"And in this lamentable ignorance," continues the worthy 
captain, "doe these poore Soules sacrifice themselues to the* 
Deuill, not knowing their Creator; and we had not language 
sufficient, so plainly to expresse it as make them vnderstand 
it; which God grant they may." 

They had some belief in the immortality of the soul, and 
Heriot, who ten years before had been on these coasts, tells a 
26 



402 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

pleasant story of an Indian, wlio in his day had been buried 
for dead, and afterwards was revived. According to the In- 
dian narrators, he "shewed that although his bodie had l»yne 
dead in the graue, yet his soule liued, and had travailed far in 
a long broad way, on both sides whereof grew more sweet, 
fayre, and delicate trees and fruits,, than euer he had scene 
before; at length he came to the most braue and fayre houses, 
neere which he met his Father, that was dead long agoe, 
who gaue him charge to goe backe, to shew his friends what 
goode there was to doe, to inioy the pleasures of that place; 
■which when hee had done, hee should come againe." 



CHAPTER V. 

VINDICATION OF SMITH FAMINE AND GllEAT MORTALITY SMITh's 

EXERTIONS HE SUPPORTS THE COLONY HIS EXPEDITIONS AND 

DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS — LAZY COLONISTS SMITH 

CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS — CONJURATIONS OVER HIM 
CARRIED TO POWHATAN SAVED BY POCAHONTAS. 

The savages, in Smith's absence, had attacked the English 
settlement, killing one and wounding many others. James- 
town was therefore fortified with palisadoes, and artillery was 
mounted for its defence. On his return, finding the arts of 
his enemies were still busily at work to secure his ruin, he 
demanded a trial, the result of which was satisfactory in the 
extreme. "So well," says one of the colonists, "he demeaned 
hiraselfe in this business, as all the company did see his inno- 
cency, and his adversaries malice, and those suborned to 
•accuse him, accused his accusers; many vntruths were alleged 
against him; but being so apparently disproved, begatt a gen- 
erall hatred in the hearts of the Company against such vniust 
Commanders, that the President was adiudged to glue him 
200/. so that all he had was presently seized vpon, in part of 
satisfaction, which Smith presently returned to the Store for 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 40S 

the generall vse of the Colony. ^^ The aggrieved captain was 
also admitted to the council, and, a prospect of harmony being 
attained, Newport, on the loth of June, set sail for England. 

The poverty of the settlement, and the gross negligence of 
those who had dispatched it, were soon apparent enough. Dui- 
ing the stay of the vessels, many of the unfortunate colonists 
had been indebted for their supplies to the sailors, who pil- 
fered the ship's biscuits, and dealt them out to the hungiy 
applicants, "for Saxefras, furres, or loue." This miserable 
resource taken away, famine alrnost at once set in. A pint of 
barley or wheat, alive with insects, was the daily allowance. 
"Had Ave beene as free," says one of the sufferers, with forlorn 
mirth, "from all sinnes as gluttony and drunkennesse, we 
might haue been canonized as Saints; but our President" 
(Wingfield) "would neuer haue beene admitted, for ingrossing 
to his private, Oatemeale, Sacke, Oyle, Aquavitce^ Beefe, Egges, 
and what not but the Kettel. * * * Our drinke was water^ 
our lodginges Castles in the Ayre." Before September, fifty 
of the company, including Gosnold, had died of disease occa- 
sioned by want, exposure, and change of climate. 

The gluttonous and monopolizing president now formed a 
cowardly and treacherous plan to seize the pinnace, and make 
good his retreat to England, "which," says the narrator, "so 
moved our dead spirits as we deposed him." Ratcliffe, 
one of the council, was elected in his place — that body, by 
the death or expulsion of its members, now consisting of only 
three, of whom Smith was one. The misery of the colony 
was at its height, when the savages, suddenly changing their 
policy, brought plenty of fruits and provisions, and relieved it 
from the extremity of distress. This singular and providen- 
tial supply is ascribed by the pious narrators of these events 
to the direct interposition of Godj but perhaps it is not deeming 
too highly of human nature to suppose that a kindly sympathy 
with misfortune, latent even in the rudest bosoms, may have 
prompted this manifestation of the divinest of his attributes. 

The whole weight of the support and management of the 



404: NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

colony now fell on Captain Smith, whose superiorit}- \\as by 
this time universally acknowledged. Eatcliffe and Martin, (the 
other councillor) both "of weake iudgement in dangers, and 
lesse industry in peace," relinquished to him the entire man- 
agement of affairs; and under his untiring and energetic 
control, the foundation of a permanent settlement rapidly pro- 
ceeded. "By his owne example, good words and faire prom- 
ises, he set some to mow, others to binde thatch, some to build 
houses, others to thatch, himselfe alwayes bearing the greatest 
taske for his owne share, so that, in short time, he provided 
most of them lodgings, neglecting any for himselfe.''^ Here again 
peeps out (how amiably !) the Robinson Crusoe-like spirit of 
the young hermit of Lincolnshire. 

The colonists again began to suffer from want of provisions, 
and the indefatigable Smith set forth in a boat, with five or 
six companions, to traffic with the Indians for supplies. But 
the unkindly savages whom he first encountered, "scorned 
him," he says, "as a famished man, and would in derision offer 
him a handfull of Corne, a peece of bread, for their swords 
and muskets, and such like proportions also for their apparell." 
Vexed at this uncivil treatment, the captain, with a violence 
which we must regret, ran his boat ashore, and with a dis- 
charge of musketry, pursued the Indians into the woods. He 
then marched to their houses, where he found great heaps of 
corn, which, however, he forbade his men to touch, expecting 
an immediate attack. 

Presently sixty or seventy of the savages, painted as usual, 
and making "a most hydeous noyse," came on in battle array, 
bearing their Okee before them. A volley of musketry took 
such effect, "that downe fell their God, and divers lay spraul- 
ing on the grounde." To ransom this precious image, the 
defeated party loaded the English boat with corn, turkcN's, and 
venison, and Smith gave them beads, copper, and hatchets, in 
return. A friendship was struck up with wonderful sudden- 
ness, from which it would seem that no very fatal result had 
occurred from the conflict. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 405 

Tliough Smith, by indefatigable exertions, from time to 
time procured provisions for the improvident colonists, "yet, 
what he carefully provided, the rest carelesly spent. * * * 
The Spaniard never more greedily desired gold than he vict- 
uall, nor his Souldiers more to abandon the Country than he 
to keepe it." In this miserable settlement, there were, to use 
his own words, "many meerely projecting, verball, and idle 
con tern plators, and those so devoted to pure idlenesse, that 
though they had lived in Virginia two or three years, lordly, 
necessitie it selfe could not compelle them to passe the Penin- 
sula, or the Pallisadoes of lames Towne. * * Our ingenious 
verbalists were no lesse plague to vs in Virginia, than the 
Locusts to the Egyptians." 

These gentlemen, he says, "being for the most part of ten- 
der educations and small experience in Martiall accidents, 
because they found not English Cities, nor such faire houses, 
with feather beds and downe pillowes, Tavernes and Ale- 
houses in every breathing place, neither such plentie of golde 
and silver and dissolute libertie, as they expected, had little 
or no care of any thing but to pamper their bellies," &c., &c. 
Wingfield and Kendall, with others, seized the pinnace, in- 
tending to return to England, and our energetic hero "had 
much trouble to prevent it, till with store of musket and sakre 
shot, he forced them to stay or sinke in the river, which action 
cost the life of Captain Kendall." 

The wants of the settlement were at last completely relieved 
by the exertions of Smith, now the actual, though not the 
nominal governor. lie proceeded up the Chickahominy river, 
where he obtained by traffic such abundant stores of provision, 
that the discontent of empty stomachs was thoroughly allayed, 
"so that none of our Tuftaffaty humorists desired to goe for 
England." On a second expedition, in the same direction, an 
adventure awaited him, by far more thrilling than any in his 
former experience. 

Having worked his way up the river as far as possible in 
his barge, he proceeded, in search of game, with two compan- 



406 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

ions, higher up the stream. These he left with his canoe, 
and, with only au Indian guide, struck off twenty miles far- 
ther into the desert, to reach the head-waters of the Chicka- 
honiiny. During his absence, the careless and undisciplined 
crew of the barge, straggling ashore, were set upon by three 
hundred warriors, commanded by Opechancanough, king of 
Pamunkey, the brother of Powhatan. They made good their 
retreat to the barge, except one, who was taken by the sav- 
ages, and, after being compelled to inform them of the route 
of Captain Smith, was put to death in their usual barbarous 
manner. They then hastened in pursuit of the captain, and 
coming upon his two companions, who were sleeping by their 
canoe, shot them with arrows. Finally, two hundred in num- 
ber, they came up with Smith himself. 

The undaunted adventurer, saluted with a shower of arrows, 
boand his guide before him, as a shield, and fought with such 
coolness and desperation, that he killed three of their number 
and wounded many others. But, getting fixed into a morass, 
he became so chilled and stiffened with cold, that, to induce 
them to venture near him, he threw away his arms, and yielded 
himself prisoner. They drew him forth, and diligently chafed 
his benumbed limbs by the fire. To conciliate the chief, he 
presented to him a pocket compass, neatly set in ivorj-. At 
the sight of this strange little engine, with its trembling vibra- 
tions, apparently instinct with life, the wonder of his captors 
knew no bounds; and Smith, taking advantage of their inter- 
est, began forthwith to enchain with philosophy the attention 
of his savage auditors. "When he demonstrated by that 
Globe like lewell, the rounduesse of the earth and skies, the 
spheare of the Sunne, Moone, and Starres, and how the Sunne 
did chase the night round about the world continually ; the 
greatnesse of the Sea and Land, the diversitie of Nations, 
varietie of complexions, and how we were to them Antipodes, 
and many other such like matters, they stood as all amazed 
w^ith admiration. Notwithstanding, within an houre after 
they tyed him to a tree, and as many as could stand about 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 407 

him prepared to shoote him, but the Kinge holding vp the 
Compass in his hand, they all laid down their Bowes and Ar- 
rowes, and in a triiimphant manner led him to Orapaks,"^ 
where he was after their manner kindly feasted, and well vsed." 

At this place, a hideous war-dance was performed around 
him, and he began to fear, from the excessive hospitality of 
his captors, that he was to be fattened for a solemn sacrifice. 
A pleasant instance of gratitude is recorded of Maocassater, 
an Indian to whom Smith had once done some trifling kind- 
ness, and who at this time brought his "gowne" of furs to 
protect him from the cold. 

The natives now made great offers to their redoubted cap- 
tive, if he would assist them in a grand attack on the colony. 
Smith, after vainly attempting to dissuade them, wrote a note 
to his friends, desiring them to send him certain articles, and 
warning them of the intended assault. The messengers, dis- 
patched by Powhatan, in bitter cold weather, hastened to 
Jamestown, and left the letter on the ground, where it was 
seen by the whites. To the great surprise of the Indians, 
they found, the next day, the very articles which Smith had 
promised them, in the appointed place. All were amazed at 
this wonderful communication of ideas, and concluded "that 
he could either divine, or the paper could speake." 

At Pamunkey, whither he was presently conducted, "they 
entertained him," he says, "with most strange and fearefull 
Coniurations, 

As if neere led to Hell 
Among the Devills to dwell." 

He was placed alone by a great fire in a house, and presently 
bounded in a huge priest, painted black, and wearing the fan- 
tastic head-dress already described, "with a hellish voyce, and 
a rattle in his hand. With most strange gestures and passions 
he began his invocations; which done, three more such like 
devils came rushing in with the like antique tricks, painted 

* An Indian village, a few miles north-east of Powhataa 



408 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

halfe Llacke, halfe red: but all their eyes were painted white, 
and some red stroakes like Mutchatos" (mustaches) "along their 
cheeks: round about him those fiends daunced a pretty while, 
and then came in three more vgly as the rest; with red ej-es 
and white stroakes over their black foces." 

For three da^^s, these party-colored gentry performed a 
heathenish incantation over him, (probably to try his nerves 
and to assert the efficacy of Indian conjuration) and after that, 
he was most kindly and hospitably entertained by the whole 
tribe. They showed him a bag of gunpowder, which they 
were carefully keeping to plant the mext spring — supposing it 
a species of seed. 

He was finally led to Werowocomoco, where King Pow- 
hatan, with "more than two hundred of his grim courtiers, in 
their greatest braveries," was waiting to receive him. " Before 
the fire vpon a seat like a bedsted, he sat covered with a great 
robe, made of Earowcun* skinnes, and all the tayles hanging 
by." At the entrance of their brave captive, the whole court 
rose, and gave a great shout. He was waited on by the queen 
of Appamatuck, and served in the mo^t honorable manner 
possible. The sequel may be given in words which are his 
own, or were written by those who heard the tale from his 
own lips. 

"Having feasted him in the best barbarous manner they 
could, a long consultation was held, but the conclusion was, 
two greate stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many 
as could, layd hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon 
layd his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out 
his braines, Pocahontas^ the King's dearest daughter, when no 
intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes and laid her 
owne vpon his to saue him from death; whereat the Emper- 
our was contented he should live." 

In all history there is no incident more dramatic and touch- 
ing. After the lapse of more than two centuries, familiarized, 
but unhackneyed by repetition, it still remains the most 

* Raccoon. 




P OCA UOJ^TM S IJ\rTEli P OSIJ^O FUR CAPTAIJ^T SMITH. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 409 

charming and picturesque scene in the whole range of American 
annals. Its heroine, "the darling of history," (then only a 
child of ten,) still warmly lives in the love and remembrance of 
a whole people, and stands, the redeeming spirit of her race, to 
hallow it with a kinder memory than that of warfare and revenge. 
In the language of an elegant author,* "The universal sympa- 
thies of mankind, and the best feelings.of the human heart, have 
redeemed this scene from the obscurity which, in the progress 
of time, gathers over all but the most important events. It 
has pointed a thousand morals and adorned a thousand tales. 
Innumerable bosoms have throbbed and are yet to throb with 
generous admiration for this daughter of a people, whom we 
have been too ready to underrate. Had we known nothing 
of her, but what is related of her in this incident, she would 
deserve the eternal gratitude of the inhabitants of this country; 
for the fate of the colony may be said to have hung upon the 
arms of Smith's executioners. He was its life and soul, and, 
without the magic influence of his personal qualities, it would 
have abandoned, in despair, the project of permanently settling 
the country, and sailed to England by the first opportunity." 

Kot only was the life of our hero spared, but his freedom 
was generously restored. "Two dayes after," he tells us, 
^'■Powhatan having disguised himselfe in the most fearefullest 
manner he could, caused Capt. Smith to be brought forth to a 
great house in the woodes, and there vpon a mat by the fire 
to be left alone" — (another experiment on his nerves). "Xot 
long after, from behinde a mat that divided the house, was 
made the most dolefullest noyse he ever heard; then Powhatan, 
more like a devill than a man, with some two hundred more 
as blacke as himselfe, came vnto him and told him now they 
were friends, and presently he should goe to lames Towne, to 
send him two great gunnes and a gryndstone, for which he 
would giue him the country of Capahowosick, and for ever 
esteeme him as his son Nantaquoud. So to lames Towne with 
12 guides Powhatan sent him." 

• Mr. George S. Hilliard. 



410 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Great was the rejoicing at his arrival, and his Indian com- 
panions were kindly used; but being showed "two demi-cul- 
verins and a millstone, they found them somewhat too heavy," 
and were dismissed, contented with presents better suited to 
transportation. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CONDITION OF THE COLONY KINDNESS OF POCAHONTAS — SECOND AR- 
RIVAL OF NEWPORT TRAFFIC WITH POWHATAN HIS SUBTILTY 

OVERREACHED BY SMITH BLUE BEADS A SUPPOSED GOLD 

MINE TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS SUPPRESSED BY 

SMITH HE EXPLORES THE CHESAPEAKE INTER- 
COURSE WITH THE INDIANS HIS RETURN. 

During the captivity of their intrepid and sagacious com- 
mander, (lasting for six weeks) the colonists, as usual, had 
taken to evil courses. All Jamestown "was in combustion," 
Smith was again forced to keep the pinnace, at the point of 
his guns, from deserting the colony. A miserable plot was 
next hatched up to execute him for the loss of his two com- 
panions, for whose death, according to the Levitical law, he 
was said to be responsible — "but he quickly took such order 
with such Lawyers that he layd them by the heeles," {i. e., in 
prison) "till he sent some of them prisoners for England. 
Now ever once in foure or fine dayes, Pocahontas, with her 
attendants, brought him so much provision that saved many 
of their Hues, that els for all this had starved with hunger." 
Imitating her generous example, many of the neighboring 
Indians brought supplies of food as presents, and when they 
traded, made the captain name his own prices, "so had he 
inchanted these poore soules, being their prisoner." 

Two ships had been dispatched from England to the aid of 
the colon}^ with a reinforcement of an hundred men. One 
of these was dismasted, and blown to the West Indies — the 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 411 

other, commanded by Newport, in tlie latter part of the year 
1607, arrived at Jamestown, with plentiful supplies. A brisk 
but indiscreetly liberal traffic was now carried on with the 
Indians, and Powhatan, forming an exalted idea of the wealth 
and greatness of the new comer, requested a visit from him. 
He went accordingly, with Smith and a small guard ; and was 
received with much distinction; "Powhatan strained himselfe 
to the vtmost of his greatnesse to entertaine them, with great 
shouts of ioy. Orations of protestation ; and with the most plen- 
tie of victualls he could provide to feast them." 

" With many pretty discourses to renew their old acquaint- 
ance, this great King and our Captaine" (Smith) "spent the 
time." Newport presented the chief with a boy, named Sal- 
vage, and received in return from Powhatan, '■'■ Natnontach^ 
his trustie servant, and one of a shrewd subtill capacitie. 
Three or foure dayes more we spent in feasting, dauncing, and 
trading, wherein Powhatan carried himselfe so proudly, yet 
discreetly, (in his salvage manner) as made vs all admire his 
naturall gifts." 

In their traffic, however, the wily savage proved too much 
for Newport, whom, it seems, he artfully bespoke as follows: 
" Captaine Newport, it is not agreeable to my greatnesse, in 
this pedliijg manner to trade for trifles ; and I esteeme you also 
a great Werowance" (chieftain). "Therefore, lay me downe 
all your commodities together; what I like I will take, and in 
recompence giue you what I think fitting their value."' New- 
port, scorning to be outdone in magnanimity by an Indian, 
complied; and the result was, that for all his goods he re- 
ceived but a miserable pittance of corn — scarce four bushels 
where fill had counted on at least twenty hogsheads. 

But the astuteness and policy of Smith redeemed the day, 
and saved the character of the European trafficker from the 
discredit of being even for once outdone in fraud and cunning 
by a savage. As if by accident, he contrived to "glance in 
the e3'es of Poich atari, ''^ several flashy ornaments, and his 
majesty "presently fixt his humor vpon a few blew beades. 



412 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

A long time lie importunately desired tliem, but SmitJc seemed 
BO much the more to affect them, as being composed of a most 
rare substance of the colour of the skyes, and not to be worne 
but by the greatest kings in the world. This made hira halfe 
madde to be the owner of such strange lewells; so that ere 
we departed, for a pound or two of blew beades, he brought 
ouer my king for 2 or 300 Bushells of corne ; yet parted good 
friends." The royal house of Pamunkey and other native 
dynasties were supplied with crown-jewels at similar rates, and 
the blue beads were held in such estimation, that none but the 
kings and their families dared to wear them. 

Soon after their return to the town, a lire broke out, which 
occasioned much damage. "Good Master Hunt, our Preacher, 
lost all his liberary, and all he had but the cloathes on his 
backe; yet none neuer heard him repine at his losse." The 
patience, cheerfulness, and manly spirit of this worthy divine 
are frequently alluded to. 

A worse misfortune befell the colony in the supposed dis- 
covery of a great bed of gold, (probably yellow mica or iron 
pyrites,) to the raking up of which nearly all, with insane 
eagerness, betook themselves. In vain did Smith, wiser by 
experience, passionately remonstrate. "Neuer any thing did 
more torment hira than to see all necessary busines neglected 
to fraught such a drunken ship," (Newport's) "with so much 
guilded durt." 

As the spring of 1608 came on, the colonists, stimulated by 
the activity of their leader, set themselves vigorously at plant- 
ing and building; and were soon cheered by the arrival of the 
missing vessel, (the Phoenix,) from the West Indies, with an 
abundant supply of provisions. She was sent home with a 
load of cedar^ despite the remonstrances of the foolish Martin, 
who went in her, and who wished to freight her with "guilded 
durt" like the other. The duplicity of Powhatan, who, by 
theft or barter, was continually striving to supply his people 
with English arms, was their chief source of annoyance; but 
the depredators finally "well chanced to meddle with Ca])taiue 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 413 

Smith," who bestirred himself with such energy, that in a 
short time he had seven of them prisoners, and gave them 
"what correction he saw fit." Powhatan, dissembling' his 
anger, sent messengers, and with them "his dearest daughter, 
Pocahontas with presents to excuse him of the iniuries done 
by some rash vntoward captaines, his subiects, desiring their 
liberties for this time, with the assurance of his loue for ever." 
For the sake of his kind deliverer, Smith complied. 

On the 2d of June, he set out in a small barge, with four- 
teen companions, on the arduous enterprise of exploring Chesa- 
peake Bay. Some visions of a South Sea to be attained, and 
a new channel opened to the wealthy regions of India, may 
have mingled, it is probable, with the more practical intention 
of reducing these great waters and their shores within the 
dominion of geograj)hy. Carefully surveying the eastern 
coast, the voyagers suffered much from tempests and foul 
weather, and were forced to use their shirts in repairing the 
sail of their little craft. Ttey ascended several rivers, meeting 
with alternate kindness and hostility from the Indians. At 
one village, says the writer, "the people ran as amazed, in 
troups, from place to place, and diners got into the tops of 
trees, they were not sparing of their arrowes, nor the greatest 
passion they could expresse of their anger. Long they shot, 
we still ryding at an anchor without their reatch, making all 
the signes of friendship we could." Muskets were finally dis- 
charged at them, and they fled into the reeds. The next day, 
however, a friendly intercourse ensued, and great numbers, 
with presents, anxious for European trifles, clustered around 
their barge. 

At the mouth of the Patapsco, the crew, wearied with a 
fortnight's incessant labor and exposure, and alarmed at the 
state of their supplies, vehemently protested against proceed- 
ing any farther. Smith diligently endeavored to raise their 
spirits — setting before their eyes the honorable conduct of the 
company of Lane, who, in a like excursion, had clamored for 
further exploration, "seeing they had yet a dog, that Ijcing 



414 NOETH AND SOUTH AMKRICA. 

boyled with saxafras leaves, would richly feede them in their 
returne." Several of them falling sick, however, he finally 
consented to return, and, on the 16th of June, fell in with the 
River Potomac, which he ascended for thirty miles. Exploring 
a little creek at this point, he found "all the woods layd with 
ambuscadoes to the number of three or foure thousand Sal- 
vages, so strangely paynted, grimed, and disguised, shouting, 
yelling, and crying, as so many spirits from hell could not 
haue shewed more terrible." Despite their bravadoes, they 
were thoroughly scared by a harmless discharge of muskets, 
and, laying aside their hostile demeanor, they entered into 
peaceable intercourse. Nothing is more singular than the 
suddenness with which these impulsive children of the forest 
could pass from jealousy and fury to confidence and unaffected 
good will. 

After exploring the river as far as their barge could go, the 
party set out on their return. They were liberally supplied 
with game by the Indians, and the^v^ater, "in diuers places," 
says the narrator, "had such aboundance of fish, lying so 
thicke with their heads aboue the water, as for want of nets, 
(our barge driuing amongst them) we attempted to catch them 
with a frying pan:, but we found it a bad instrument to catch 
fish with." At the mouth of the Rappahanoc, they had better 
luck, but with no small damage and peril to the gallant cap- 
tain. "Our bote," continues the journalist, "by reason of the 
ebbe, chansing to grownd vpon a many shoules lying in the 
entrances, we spyd many fishes lurking among the reedes: our 
Captaine, sporting himselfe by nay ling them to the grownd with 
his sword, set vs all a fishing in that manner; thus we tooke 
more in owne houre than we could eate in a day. But it 
chansed our Captaine, taking a fish from his sword, (not know- 
ing her condition) being much of the fashion of a Thornback, 
but a long tayle like a riding rodde, whereon the middest^is a 
most poysoned sting, of two or three inches long, bearded lilcc a 
saw on each side, which she struclc into the wrist of his ;n-nie 
near an inch and a halfe, no bloud or wound was secue, but a 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 415 

little blew spot, but the torment was instantly so extreame, 
that in foure houres had so swollen his hand, arme, and shoul- 
der, we all with much sorrow concluded his funerall, and pre- 
pared his graue in an Island by, as himselfe directed ; yet it 
pleased God, by a precious oyle Doctor Eussell at the first 
applyed to it, when he sounded it with probe, (ere night) his 
tormenting paine was so well asswaged, that he eate of the 
fish to his supper, which gaue no lesse joy and content to vs 
then ease to himselfe." Sting-ray Point, named in commem- 
oration of this incident, still retains its name. 

On the 21st of July, the expedition returned to Jamestown, 
having accomplished an arduous feat of surveying, and having 
visited and made friv^nds with a great number of the savage 
tribes inhabiting the shores of the Chesapeake. As usual, in the 
absence of Smith, all was in confusion at the settlement. The 
ill conduct of Ratcliffe, "the silly President," had wrought the 
colonists, especially the new comers, to such desperation that, 
to use the words of the narrative, "had we not arrived, they 
had strangely tormented him with revenge; but the good 
Newes of our Discovery, and the good hope we had by the 
Salvages relation, that our Bay stretched into the South Sea [1] 
or somewhat neare it, appeased their fury," 

The obnoxious president was forthwith deposed, and Smith 
was elected in his place — the place which, from the first, had 
been due to his superior judgment and experience, and which 
had been amply earned by his untiring devotion to the service 
of the colony. 



416 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE VOYAGE OF SURVEY RESUMED VENERATION OF THE INDIANS FOR 

SMITH — SKIRMISHES RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION — ARRIVAL OF NEW- 
PORT ABSURD INSTRUCTIONS POCAHONTAS AND HER WOMEN 

HAUGHTINESS OF POWHATAN HIS CORONATION — UNSUCCESS- 
FUL EXPEDITION OF NEWPORT ACTIVITY OF SMITH 

INGENIOUS DEVICE AGAINST SWEARING. 

The newly-made president, fonder of enterprise and action 
than of ease or dignity, remained at home only three days, 
and then, appointing a discreet deputy to fill his place, again 
manned his boat, and with twelve companions set out to re- 
sume the survey. He passed to the Patapsco, and on his way 
interchanged presents with a party of the Massawomecs, a 
powerful nation of the north, concerning which frequent 
reports had reached the colon3^ On the river Tockwogh, the 
explorers entered into friendly communication with a numer- 
ous tribe, from whom they first heard of the Susquehannas, 
the giant-like race already described. An invitation to visit 
the English was dispatched to them, and sixty of these Her- 
culean warriors soon came, with presents and unbounded con- 
fidence, to pay their respects to the renowned chief of the 
whites. Nothing could exceed their veneration for his person. 
There seems to have been a natural dignity, kindness, and 
manhood in his demeanor, which invariably was sufficient to 
overawe or conciliate the rudest tribes which he encountered. 

"Our order," says the journal, "was daily to haue Prayer, 
with a Psalme, at which solemnitie the poore Salvages much 
wondred; our prayers being done, a while they were busied 
with a consultation till they had contrived their businesse. 
Then they began in a most passionate manner to hold vp their 
hands to the Sunne, with a most feareful song, then imbracing 
our Captaine, they began to adore him in like manner; though 
he rebuked them, yet tbey proceeded till their song was fin- 
ished- which done, with a most strange furious action, and a 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 417 

hellish voyce, began an Oration of their loues; that ended, 
with a great painted Beares skin they covered him; then one 
ready with a great chayne of white Beads, weighing at least 
six or seaven pound, hung it about his necke, the others had 
18 mantels, made of diners kinds of skinnes, sowed together ; 
all these, with many other toyes, they laj^d at his feete, stroking 
their ceremonious hands about his necke, to be their Governour 
and Protector." 

The survey was continued, and the party, passing up the 
Rappahanock, were joined by one Mosco, apparently the son 
of a Frenchman, who devoted himself to their service with 
much assiduity. With the Rappahanocks they had several 
skirmishes, the hostile savages " accommodating themselues with 
branches," from behind which they poured volleys of arrows 
on the passing barge. In one of these encounters, a wounded 
savage was found on the field, "but taking him vp, we found 
he had life, which Mosco seeing, never was a Dog more furi- 
ous against a Beare, than Mosco was to haue beat out his 
braines." The doctor, however, kindly dressed his wounds, 
and being questioned, "the poore Salvage mildly answered," 
with what information he could give them. After learning of 
the neighboring tribes, "We demanded," saj's the writer, 
"why they came in that manner to betray vs, that came to 
them in peace, and to seeke their loues; he answered they 
heard we were a people come from vnder the world, to take 
their world from them. * * Then we asked him what 
was beyond the mountaines, he answered the Sunne; but 
of any thing els he knew nothing, because the woodes were 
not burnt." 

It is not possible, in these limits, to give a full account of 
this long and arduous expedition of discovery, in the course 
of which Smith completed the survey of the whole Chesapeake 
Bay, making an accurate chart of its shores, and acquiring 
much useful information. Of the numerous savage tribes 
whom he encountered, all were conciliated by friendship, or, 
if hostile, were overcome by arms, and a brief, but interestiug- 
27 



418 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

acconnt was drawn up of the country and of its various inliab- 
itants. He returned to Jamestown on the 7th of September, 
after an absence of three months, (except his brief visit in 
July,) having made a voyage in all of about three thousand 
miles, and experienced a great variety of danger and adven- 
ture, llis little bark was deeply freighted with provisions for 
the use of the colony. 

The settlers were suffering from sickness, and many of them 
had died; but the deputy had faithfully attended to his duties, 
and had provided for the gathering and storing of the harvest. 
On the 10th, Smith was formally invested with the office of 
president, and set actively to work to promote the welfare and 
good order of the settlement. 

Not long after this. Captain Newport arrived, bringing sev- 
enty additional colonists, some of them persons of considera- 
tion. Among them were two Englishwomen, a Mrs. Forrest 
and her maid, being the first females that had yet ventured to 
the colony. There were also eight Germans, sent out to make 
pitch, tar, potash, and glass, and who in the end proved a 
source of great danger anft annoyance to the plantation. The 
company in England had evinced a sad want of discretion in 
all their doings, and especially in their orders to Captain New- 
port, "not to returne without a lumpe of gold, a certaintie of 
the South Sea, or one of the lost companie sent out by Sir 
Walter Raleigh." In pursuance of these extravagant instruc- 
tions, Newport had brought a great barge, built in separate 
pieces, to be carried over the mountains, (the Blue Ridge!) 
and thence launched into one of the streams which, it was 
supposed, must flow into the Pacific. " If he had burnt her 
to ashes," says the captain, in an indignant remonstrance to 
the Company, "one might haue carried her in a bag, (but as 
she is, fine hundred cannot,) to a nauigable place aboue the 
Falles. And for him at that time to find in the South Sea, a 
Mine of Gold! or any of them sent by Sir Walter Raleigh! 
at our Consultation I told them was as likely as the rest." To 
secure the favor of Powhatan, who was supposed to guard 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 419 

both the route to the Pacific and the anticipated gold mine, 
these wiseacres had sent him certain royalties, consisting of a 
basin and ewer, a bed and furniture, a chair of state, a suit 
of scarlet, a cloak, and a crown, (of no great cost, we may 
imagine,) purporting to be a present from his fellow-monarch, 
the sovereign of Great Britain. 

Against all these ridiculous proceedings, the practical Smith 
vainly protested. But, finding the new comers bent on their 
scheme, he did his best to further it. He went in person, with 
only four attendants, to Werowocomoco, to see Powhatan in 
their behalf. That chief was absent, thirty miles off, but mes- 
sengers were immediately dispatched to him, and meanwhile 
Pocahontas and her women did their best to entertain the 
visitors. First, as they sat quietly by their fire, "was heard 
suddainly among the woodes, such a hydeous noyse and 
shreeking, that the English betook themselves to their arms, 
supposing Powhatan, with all his power, was come to surprise 
them." They were, hawever, reassured by Pocahontas, and, 
for their entertainment, "presently were presented with this 
anticke." Thirty young women, habited much in the costume 
of Mother Eve, but gayly painted, and adorned with the most 
fantastic devices, appeared. 

"These fiends," says the ungallant narrator, "with most hell- 
ish shouts and cryes, rushing from among the trees, cast them- 
selves in a ring about the fire, singing and dauncing with most 
excellent ill varietie, oft falling into their infernall passions," 
(ecstacies) "and solemnly againe to sing and daunce; having 
spent neare an houre in this Mascarado," (masquerade) "as 
they entred, in like manner they departed. 

"Having reaccommodated themselves, they solemnly invited 
him to their lodgings, where he was no sooner within the house, 
but all these nymphs more tormented him than ever, with 
crowding, pressing, and hanging about him, most tediously 
crying, Loue you not me? Loue you not me? This salutation 
ended, the feast was set, consisting of all the Salvage dainties 
they could devise: some attending, others singing and daun- 



420 NOP.TH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

cing about them; whicli mirtli being ended, witli firebrands 
in stead of Torclies, they conducted him to his lodging." 

The next day came Powhatan; but on being requested to 
go to Jamestown and receive his presents, he was taken with a 
sudden fit of dignity or suspicion. Smith pohtely urged him 
to accompany them to the settlement — " wherevnto this subtile 
Savage thus replyed: 

" ' If your King have sent me Presents, I also am a King, 
and this is my land ; eight dayes I will stay to receiue them. 
Your father" (Newport) "is to come to me, not I to him, nor 
yet to your fort, neither will I bite at such a bait, * * * 
as for any salt water beyond the mountaines, the Eelations 
you haue had from my people are false.' Where vpon he be- 
gan to draw plots" (plans) "vpon the ground, (according to 
his discourse) of all those regions." 

To humor his dignity. Smith and Newport, with fifty men, 
taking the presents, proceeded to Werowocomoco. The next 
day after their arrival was appointed for his solemn coro- 
nation. The description of that august ceremony is amusing 
enough. A vehement distrust, inspired perhaps by the dread 
of necromancy, was evidently uppermost in the royal mind. 
The other articles having been given him, and his furniture 
properly set up, we are told, "his scarlet Cloke and apparell 
we^e with much adoe put on him, being perswaded by Namon- 
tacV^ (his former servant) "they would not hurt him; but a 
foule trouble there was to make him kneele to receiue his 
Crowne, he neither knowing the maiesty nor meaning of a 
Crowne, nor bending of the knee, endured so many perswa- 
sions, examples, and instructions, as tyred them all; at last, Inj 
leaning hard on his shoulders, he a little stooped, and three hav- 
ing the Crowne in their hands, put it on his head, when, by 
the warning of a Pistoll, the Boats were prepared with such a 
volley of shot, that the King started vp in a horrible feare, till 
he saw all was well." 

After this imposing ceremonial, Newport, despite the re- 
monstrances of the king, set forth up the James River, with 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 421 

an hundred and twenty men, in quest of his lump of gold 
and the South Sea. They went in their boat to the Falls, and 
managed to get by land about forty miles farther. They then 
retraced their steps, and arrived at Jamestown, suffering griev- 
ously from toil and exposure, and still more from disappoint- 
ment, "in our guilded hopes," says one, "as Captaine Smith 
had foretold vs." 

The captain, on their arrival, set them all at work in vari- 
ous useful occupations, and took thirty of them, among whom 
were several gentlemen, down the river, to cut trees and hew out 
timber and clapboards. Stimulated by his vigorous example, 
these gallants, axe in hand, assailed the virgin forest — "mak- 
ing it their delight to heare the trees thunder as they fell ; but 
the Axe so oft blistered their tender fingers, that many times 
every third blow had a loud othe to drowne the echo ; for 
remedie of which crime, the President deuised how to have 
every mans othes numbred, and at night for every othe to 
haue a Cann of water powred downe his sleeue, with which 
every offender was so washed (himselfe and all) that a man 
should scarce heare an othe in a weeke. 

"By this," continues the author, with a due regard to dig- 
nity, "let no man thinke that the President and these Gentle- 
men spent their times as common Wood-haggers at felling of 
trees, or such like labours, or that they were pressed to it as 
hirelings or common slaues, onely as a pleasure and recreation, 
yet 30 or 40 of such voluntary Gentlemen would doe more in 
a day, than 100 of the rest that must be prest to it by compul- 
sion, but twentie good workmen had been better than them all." 



422 NORTH AKD SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DISORDERS IN THE COLONY — SMITH's LETTER HIS EXPEDITION TO SUR- 
PRISE POWHATAN BEGUILING SPEECHES — FLIGHT OF POWHATAN 

MUTUAL TREACHERY VISIT FROM POCAHONTAS TRANSACTIONS 

AT PAMUNKEY FURY OF SMITH THE INDIANS QUELLED. 

Provisions falling short, Smith again ascended the Chicka- 
hominy, and, after meeting some difficulty, returned with two 
hundred bushels of corn. Meanwhile, the jealousy of New- 
port and Ratcliffe had formed a plan to depose him, "but their 
homes," we are told, "were so much too short to effect it, as 
they themselues more narrowly escaped a greater mischiefe." 
What terrible meaning may lurk under this ominous insinua- 
tion we are not advised. "All this time," proceeds the narra- 
tive, "our old Taverne," (the ship) "made as much of all of 
them that had either money or ware as could be desired ; by 
this time they were become so perfect on all sides (I meaue 
the souldiers, saylers, and Salvages,) as there was tenne times 
more care to maintaine their damnable and private trade, than 
to provide for the colony things that were necessar3^" She 
finally departed, freighted by the president with a variety of 
the products of the country. He also, in a letter to the com- 
pany, besought them "rather to send but thirty Carpenters, 
husbandmen, gardiners, fisher men, blacksmiths, masons, and 
diggers vp of trees' roots, well provided, than a thousand 
such as we haue." 

In the same letter, he complains of the misrepresentations 
of Newport, and adds, with honest pride, "Now, that you 
should know I haue made you as great a discovery as he, for 
lesse charge than he spendeth you every meale; I haue sent 
you this Mappe of the Bay and Riuers, with an annexed Rela- 
tion of the Countries and Nations that inhabit them, as you 
may see at large." To their ungrateful complaints that they 
were kept in ignorance of the land, he replies, sternly, "I 
desire but to know, what either you or these here doe know " 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 423 

(of the country) "but what I have learned to tell you, at the 
continuall hazard of my life." 

As Avinter came on, supplies began to grow scanty, and 
numerous mouths were clamorous for food. The indefatigable 
president, by repeated excursions, sleeping, with his hardy 
companions, among the snow, gained from time to time pre- 
carious supplies; but finall}^, seeing a prospect of starvation, 
came to the hazardous and very questionable resolve of seizing 
on Powhatan, and despoiling his granaries. That chieftain 
had requested a visit fi'om him, promising that if Smith would 
''build him a house, giue him a gryndstone, fiftie swords, some 
peeces," (muskets) "a cock and a hen, with much copper and 
beads, he would load his Ship with Corne." 

Two Englishmen and four Germans were sent to build the 
house, and, unluckily for Smith, were informed of his un- 
friendly project. Soon after, (December 29th,) he set out with 
three boats and forty-six volunteers, in the same direction. 
The Indians, on their way, warned them that Powhatan had 
sent for them only to cut their throats, but they pushed on up 
the river, meeting good entertainment, and finding excellent 
sport. "An hundred fortie eight foules the President, Anthony 
Bagnall, and Serjeant Pising did kill at three shots." Game 
must certainly have been more plentiful on the river than it 
is now. At this time. Smith dispatched Mr. Sicklemore, "a 
very valiant, honest, and a' painefull Souldier," and with him 
two others, on a fruitless search for the lost colony planted 
Iby Raleigh. 

On arriving at Werowocomoco, the expedition was at first 
hospitably entertained by Powhatan, who, however, soon 
exhibited his distrust and alarm. He had been informed of 
Smith's intention by one of the Germans, and after much par- 
ley, to no purpose, (each party endeavoring to take the other 
at a disadvantage,) he addressed his guest in the following 
artful speech, "expostulating the difference betweene Peace 
and Warre." 

"Captaine Smithy you may vnderstand that I, having scene 



424 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the death of all my people thrice, and not any one living of 
those three generations but my selfe; I know the difference 
of Peace and Warre better than any in my Country. But 
now I am old, and ere long must die. * * * Thinke you 
I am so simple, not to know it is better to eate goode meate, 
lye well, and sleepe quietly with my women and children, 
laugh and be merry with you, haue copper, hatchets, or what 
I want, being your friend; than be forced to flie from all, to 
lye cold in the woods, feede vpon Acornes, rootes, and such- 
trash, and be so hunted by you that I can neither rest, eate, 
nor sleepe ; but my tyred men must watch, and if a twig but 
breake, every one cryeth, 'there commeth Captaine Smith f 
then must I fly I know not whither; and thus with miserable 
feare end my miserable life." 

"To this subtill discourse," ending with an urgent persua- 
sion that the whites should lay aside their arms, the captain 
replied by complaining of injuries received from his host, and 
adducing the example of the Indians, who always carried their 
weapons in Jamestown. After many artful rejoinders from 
both, the king, with a deep sigh, "breathed his minde once 
more," as follows : 

"Captaine jSmith, I never use any Werowance so kindly as 
your selfe, yet from you I never .receive the least kindness 
of any. Captaine Neivport gaue me swords, copper, clothes, a 
bed, towels, or what I desired; euer taking what I offered 
him, and would send away his gunnes when I intreated him; 
none doth denye to lye at my feete, or refuse to doe what I 
desire, but onely you; of whom I can haue nothing but what 
you regard not; and yet you will haue whatsoeuer you de- 
mand. Captaine Neivport you call father, and so you call me, 
but I see, for all vs both, you will doe what you list, and we 
must both seeke to content you. But if you intend so friendly 
as you say, send hence your armes, that I may beleeve you; 
for you see the loue I beare you doth cause me thus nakedly 
to forget my self." 

Smith now dispatched a private message to the rest of his 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 425 

people, to come on shore and surprise the king, meanwhile 
using persuasions as artful as those of his host, and promising 
on the morrow to lay aside his arms. "I call you father 
indeed," he said, "and as a father you shall see I will loue 
you ; but the small care you have of such a childe, caused my 
men to perswade me to look to myselfe." But Powhatan, 
advised of the landing of the soldiers, was on the alert, and, 
leaving three of his women to parley with Smith, made good 
his retreat, bag and baggage, into the woods. Meanwhile, his 
warriors, in great numbers, closed around the house. " Which 
being presently discovered to Captaine Smithy with his Pistol], 
sword, and target, he made such a passage among these naked 
Diuels, that at his first shoot, they next him tumbled one ouer 
another, and the rest fled quickly, some one way, some an- 
other." Powhatan, from his retreat, "to excuse his flight and 
the sudden coming of this multitude, sent our Captaine a great 
bracelet and a chain of pearle, by an ancient Oratour," who 
smoothed the matter over with plausible explanations. 

A quantity of corn, which Smith had purchased, was now 
carried by the Indians aboard his barge, and he prepared to 
pass the night in his quarters. Powhatan, "bursting with 
desire to have his head," sent his people to beguile the Eng- 
lish with merriment, while he prepared to attack them by night. 
"Notwithstanding," says the narrative, "the eternall all-seeing 
God did preuent him, and by a strange meanes. For Pocahon- 
tas^ his dearest iewell and daughter, in that darke night came 
through the irksome woods, and told our Captaine great 
cheare should be sent vs by and by: but Powhatan and all the 
power he could make, would after come kill vs all, if they 
that brought it could not kill vs with our owne weapons when 
we were at supper. Therefore if we would line, shee wished 
vs presently to be gone. Such things as she delighted in he 
would haue given her; but with the teares running downe her 
cheekes, she said she durst not be scene to haue any, for if 
Powhatan should know it, she were but dead, so shee ranne 
away by her selfe as she came." 



426 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

As slie had told tliera, tlie cunning savages soon came 
with great platters of venison and other kinds of refreshment, 
begging the English to put out the matches of their guns, 
"(whose smoke made them sicke)" and sit down to meat. But 
their intended victims, forewarned, redoubled their vigilance, 
and Powhatan, le-arning, by repeated messengers, that all were 
on their guard, relinquished his design. The next morning, at 
high water, they took their departure. It certainly cannot be 
regretted that this attempt of Smith's to seize the person and 
property of the chief who had formerly spared his life, should 
have been unsuccessful. 

From Werowocomoco, with his company, he proceeded to 
Pamunkey, the seat of Opechancanough, his former captor. 
Here, for many days, they were liberally entertained, but a 
plot for their capture or destruction was cunningly devised. 
Smith, with only fifteen companions, going to the house of 
the chief, by agreement, for traflic, was surrounded by a force 
of seven hundred armed Indians; his host, "v/ith a str-aiued 
cheerefullnesse," holding him in discourse until the place was 
completely beset. 

In a stirring speech, the captain exhorted his little band to 
stand bravely to their defence, and, whatever the event, " to 
fight like men, and not die like sheepe." All vowed to do 
their best, if it should cost their lives, and he then sternly be- 
spoke his treacherous host: " Opechancanough, I see your plot 
to murder me, but I feare it not. As yet your men and miue 
have done no harm, but by our direction. Therefore take 
your Armes, you see mine, my body shall bee as naked as 
yours; the Isle in your river is a fit place, if you be contented ; 
and the conqueror (of vs two) shall be Lord and Master over 
all our men." He also offered to stake on the same issue an}- 
amount of copper against an equal value of corn, "and our 
game shall be, the Conquerour take all." 

To this handsome proposal the chief evinced no inclination, 
and, under pretext of showing Smith a great present, invited 
him without the door, "where the bait was guarded with ot 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 427 

least two liundred men, and thirty lying vnder a greate tree, 
(that lay thwart as a barricado) each his arrow nocked ready 
to shoote." Angered at this piece of treachery, the captain 
"commanded to guard the doore, and in such a rage snatched 
the King by his long locke in the middest of his men," at 
the same time, clapping a pistol to his breast. He then led 
him forth into the midst of his people, and made him give 
up his arms — the warriors, struck with consternation, and fear- 
ijlg for the life of their chief, offering no resistance. The 
chief then "bestowed his presents in good sadnesse," and 
Smith, "still holding the King by the hayre," addressed the 
Bavages with many reproaches for their treachery and hostility. 

"If you shoot but one Arrow," he fiercely continued, "to 
shed one drop of bloud of any of my men, or steale the leaste 
of these Beads or Copper, which I spume here before you 
with my foot; you shall see I will not cease revenge (if once 
I begin) so long as I can Ijeare where to finde one of your 
Nation that will not deny the name of Po.raaunh. I am not 
now at Eassaweak halfe drowned with myre, where you tooke 
me prisoner. * * * If I be the marke you ayme at, here 
I stand, shoot he that dare. You promised to fraught my ship 
ere I departed, and so you shall, or I will load her with your 
dead carcasses." He ended this "angry parle," however, in a 
more conciliatory strain, offering the freedom of their chief 
and his own friendship, if they would be trusty and faithful 
in their agreements. 

Amazed at his hardihood, and fearing for their chief, the 
Indians laid aside their bows and arrows, and began to bring 
in provisions. Over-wearied with their oppressive attentions. 
Smith at last laid down to sleep, and the warriors, thinking 
perhaps to surprise him, flocked into the house, in great num- 
bers, with clubs and English swords. "The noyse and haste 
they made in, did so shake the house they awoke him from 
his sleepe, and being halfe amazed at this suddaine sight, 
betooke himselfe strait to his sword and target; Mr. Clirashaw 
and some others charged in like manner; whereat they quickly 



428 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

thronged faster backe than before forward. The house thus 
cleansed, the King and some of his auncicnts we kept yet with 
him, who with a long Oration, excused this iuti'usion. The 
rest of the day was spent with much kindnesse, the compauie 
again renewing their presents with the best provisions, and what- 
soever he gaue them, they seemed therewith well contented." 



CHAPTER IX. 

ACCIDENT AT JAMESTOWN SMITH POISONED GREAT SUPPLY OF CORN 

MOKALITY OF THE DAY TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS SMITH 

TAKES THE KING OF PASPAHEGH SUPPOSED TO REVIVE THE 

DEAD WANTS OF THE COLONY LAZY SETTLERS SPEECH 

OF SMITH TREACHERY OF THE GERMANS. 

During the absence of the expedition, a great misfortune 
had befallen the colony, in the loss of Mr. Scrivener, tlie 
deputy, who, with ten others, venturing out in a small boat, 
on a stormy day, had perished in the waves. The messenger 
dispatched with this heavy news to the president, had nar- 
rowly escaped with his life at Werowocomoco ; but "Pocha- 
hontas hid him for a time, and sent them who pursued him 
the cleane contrary way to seeke him." Smith kept this dis- 
couraging intelligence from his company, and set out on his 
return. A plan to surprise Powhatan was again defeated by 
"those damned Dutch men," who had forewarned him of his 
danger. Ue made good his retreat, carrying all his store with 
him. Several other interviews with the Indians took place, 
and much provision was obtained ; but despite the secret com- 
mands of that chief, his people dared not openly attempt the 
life of the redoubted captain. "Yet, had their art and poyson 
been sufficient, the President, with ^Ir. West and some others, 
had been poysoned; It made them sicke, yet expelled itselfe. 
Wecuttaiiow, a stout young fellow, knowing he was suspected 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 429 

for bringing this present of poyson, with fortie or fifire of his 
chiefe companions (seeing the President but with a few men 
at Potauncok,) so proudly braued it, as though he expected to 
incounter a revenge. — Which the President perceiving, in the 
midst of his company, did not onely beate, but spurned him 
like a dogge, as scorning to doe him any worse mischiefe." 

In some places where the English went for com, "the peo- 
ple," we are told, "imparted that little they had with such 
complaints and teares from the eyes of women and children, 
as he had been too cruell to haue beene a Christian, that would 
not haue beene satisfied and moued with compassion," It is 
to be hoped that Smith, who, with all his roughness, had a 
compassionate heart, spared the little store of these poor 
people. He returned to Jamestown with nearly five hundred 
bushels of com, the fruit of long foraging among various 
tribes — part obtained by traffic, part as presents, and part, we 
are sorry to say, by force and violence. 

The narrator, indeed, takes some pains to exculpate his party 
from the charge of too great moderation, which "the blind 
world's ignorant censure" might impute to them. " These tem- 
porizing proceedings," he says, "to some may seem too chari- 
table, to such a daily daring, trecherous people ; to others not 
pleasing that we washed not the grounde with their blouds, nor 
shewed such strange inventions, in mangling, murdering, ran- 
sacking, and destroying (as did the Spanyards^) the simple bodies 
of such ignorant soules." He also argues elaborately that it was 
no discredit to the Virginian adventurers that they had not 
discovered gold or silver, adding, naively enough, that if the 
precious metals had been found, and they had not gotten as 
much as the Spaniards, "the world might the-a haue traduced 
us and our merits, and haue made shame and infamy our re- 
compense and reward." 

There was now a sufficient supply of food to last the col- 
ony for a year; and Smith, the fear of starvation removed, 
set his people at work in various useful occupations — making, 
after the feshion of schoolmasters, a table of their respective 



•iSO NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

merits and demerits. "By this," says the narrative, "many 
became very industrious, yet more by punishment performed 
their businesse; * ''^ * for there was no excuse coukle 
prevaile to deceive him." 

The Dutchmen, who lived with Powhatan, had several ras- 
cally confederates in Jamestown, and quantities of arms and 
ammunition were thus secretly stolen and conveyed to the 
Indians, No suspicion of their treachery was yet entertained. 
Learning, however, that one of them had come to the glass- 
house, (the usual scene of their intrigues,) a mile from the 
town. Smith set out to apprehend him. He was not found 
there, and the captain, leaving his followers to search for him, 
set off alone for home, with no weapon but his sword. An 
ambuscade of forty Indians was at that very time lying in 
wait for him. "By the way he incountred the King of Pas- 
pahegh, a most strong stout Salvage, whose perswasions not 
being able to perswade him to his Ambush, seeing him onely 
armed but with a faucheon," (falchion) "attempted to haue 
shot him, but the President prevented his shooting by grapling 
with him, and the Salvage as well prevented him from draw- 
ing his faucheon, and perforce bore him into the River to haue 
drowned him. Long they strugled in the water, till the Pres- 
ident got such a hold on his throat, he had neare strangled the 
King; but having drawne his faucheon to cut off his head, 
seeing how pitifully he begged his life, he led him prisoner to 
lames Towne, and put him in chaynes." Other and more san- 
guinary encounters with his tribe ensued, but peace, by mutual 
concession, was finally established. 

On one occasion, a pistol had been stolen by some of the 
Chickahominies, and Smith, with his accustomed promptitude, 
seized on two young men, brothers, who were privy to the 
theft. One of these he put in prison, and dismissed the other, 
with a threat that unless the missing article was brought back 
in twelve hours, the other should forthwith be hanged. This 
cruel retribution he could hardly have intended ; for, we are 
told, "the President pittying the poore naked Salvage in the 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 431 

dungeon, sent Mm victuall and some Char-coale for a fire." 
The poisonous fumes of this fuel, however, in the close 
apartment, produced such stupefaction that he was taken out 
for dead. His brother, returning with the pistol, "most 
lamentably bewayled his death, and broke forth into such bit- 
ter agonies, that the President, to quiet him, told him that if 
hereafter they would not steale, he would make him aliue 
againe ; but he little thought he could be recovered. — Yet we 
doing our best with Aqua-vitce and Viiieger, it pleased God to 
restore him again to life." Both were dismissed, well satisfied 
with a small present, and the report immediately spread among 
the Indians, that Captain Smith could restore the dead to life. 

"Another ingenuous Salvage," proceeds the narrator, having 
got possession of a great bag of gunpowder, attempted to dry 
it over the fire on a piece of armor, as he had seen the soldiers 
do at Jamestown; but unfortunately, continuing the process 
too long, it exploded, and killed him with one or two others, 
besides injuring many of the spectators. "These and many 
other such pretty Accidents," we are told, so amazed and 
affrighted the Indians, that they took a wholesome distrust to 
gunpowder, and omitted no means to conciliate the whites, and 
to live at peace with them. 

Supplied with food, and freed from the dread of Indian hos- 
tilities, the settlers devoted themselves with energy to the 
building of additional houses, and to the production of useful 
articles of commerce. They dug and planted a goodly quan- 
tity of land, and rejoiced in the increase of their live stock, 
"60. and od Pigs," says the exultant chronicler. "And neare 
500. chickings brought vp themselues without hauing any 
meate giuen them." 

The destruction of their stock of corn, by rotting and by 
the rats, again compelled them to turn their attention to gain- 
ing the bare necessities of life. The Indians supplied them 
liberally with game, and the more industrious, by fishing and 
gathering the natural productions of the country, did much to 
relieve the wants of the colony. " But such was the strange 



432 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

condition of some 150, that liad they not been forced, nolens 
vole7is, perforce to gather and prepere their victuall, they would 
all haue starued or haue eaten one another." It was "the 
vnreasonable desire of those distracted Gluttonous Loyterers," 
that the president should sell to the Indians every utensil in 
the colony, whether of labor or defence, so long as the least 
pittance of corn could thus be procured. By every kind of 
artful and mutinous misbehavior, they sought to compel him 
to break up the colony and quit the country. His patience at 
last gave way, and having summarily punished the chief 
mutineer, "one Dyer, a most crafty fellow and his ancient 
Maligner," he addressed the others in a stern, admonitory strain. 

"Fellow souldiers, I did little think any so false to report, 
or so many to be so simple as to be perswaded, that I either 
intend to starve you, or that Powhatan at this present hath 
come for himselfe, much lesse for you ; or that I would not 
have it, if I knew where it were to be had. Neither did I 
thinke any so malitious as I now see a great manj'- ; yet it shal 
not so passionate me, but I will doe my best for my most 
maligner. But dreame no longer of this vaine hope from 
Poiuhatan, nor that I will longer forbeare to force you from 
your Idlenesse, and punish you if you rayle. But if I find any 
more runners for Newfoundland with the Pinnace, let him 
assuredly looke to arive at the Gallows. 

"You cannot deny but that by the hazard of my life many 
a time I have saved yours, when (might your own wills have 
prevailed) you would have starved. But I protest by that 
God that made me, since necessitie hath not power to force 
you to gather for your selves those fruites the earth doth yeeld, 
you shall not onely gather for your selves, but for those that 
are sicke. As yet, I never had more from the store than the 
worst of you: and all my English extraordinary provision 
that I have, you shall see me divide it amongst the sicke. 

"And this Salvage trash you so scornefally repine at, 
being put in your mouths, your stomachs can digest it. If 
you would have better, you should have brought it; and 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 438 

therefore I will take a course that you shall provide what is 
to be had. The sicke shall not starve, but equally share of 
all our labours, and he that gathereth not every day as much 
as I doe, the next day shall be set beyond the river, and be 
banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his condi- 
tions or starve." 

This resolute and peremptory speech had the desired effect, 
and the towns-people set themselves to work in such diligent 
fashion that the dread of famine was once more removed. 
Many were billeted among the Indians, who received them 
kindly, and shared with them their scanty stores. The Ger- 
mans, Avho still harbored with Powhatan, were a constant 
source of annoyance and uneasiness to the colony. They even 
proposed to their host a most treacherous scheme to seize on 
Jamestown, and murder or enslave the enfeebled colonists. 
This plot they communicated to two of their confederates in 
the town, "whose Christian hearts relented at such a vnchris- 
tian act," and who promptly revealed it to the president. 

Great was the indignation at this alarming discovery, and 
the people clamored for immediate revenge. "Amongst many 
that offred to cut their throats before the face of Powhatan^ 
the first was Lieutenant Percy and Mr. lohn Cudcrington^ two 
Gentlemen of as bold resolute spirits as could possibly be 
found. But the President had occasion of other imploiment 
for them, and gaue way to Master Wyffin and Sarjeant I^-ffrcy 
Ahhoty to goe and stab them or shoot them." Those gentle- 
men, however, were so wrought on by the excuses of the cul- 
prits, as to relinquish their sanguinary design. 

In the spring of 1609, came Captain Samuel Argall, (after- 
wards governor) to fish and trade, in a vessel well freighted 
with wine and provision. "Though it was not sent vs," says 
the narrative, "our necessities inforced vs to take it." Resti- 
tution, however, was afterwards made. By this arrival the 
colonists learned of great changes and preparations in England. 
28 



4o-i NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE NEW COMPANY ILL TREATMENT OF SMITH LARGE EXPEDITION DIS- 
PATCHED HURRICANE ARRIVAL AT JAMESTOWN ANARCHY — SMITH 

RESTORED HIS TROUBLES WITH THE SETTLERS INJURED 

BY AN EXPLOSION — LEAVES VIRGINIA HIS SERVICES TO 

THE COLONY — SUFFERINGS AFTER HIS DEPARTURE. 

The Englisli company, with a sad want of judgment or 
information, liad hitherto hoped with confidence to enrich 
themselves by the finding of treasure, or by the still more 
valuable discovery of a Virginian passage to the South Seas. 
Disappointed and irritated by the failure of their over-san- 
guine expectations, they now thought proper to visit their dis- 
pleasure on the head of Captain Smith. His necessarily firm 
and rigorous rule had made him many enemies; and the 
bluntness and plain-spoken truth of his communications had 
shocked the dignity of the authorities at home. They resolved 
to depose him from the command of the colony, which his 
almost unaided exertions had so repeatedly preserved from 
destruction, and the true value of which their short-sighted 
rapacity prevented them from appreciating. 

Many persons of wealth and influence had joined the com- 
pany, and in May, 1609, a new charter was obtained, confer- 
ring more absolute power on the English authorities, and 
shamefully disregarding the rights of those by whose per- 
sonal exertions the colony had been planted and maintained. 
Lord Delaware was appointed captain-general, and various 
other titled personages were invested with equally high-sound- 
ing offices. In the same month, nine ships, carrying five 
hundred souls, embarked from England under command of 
Newport, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers. Lord 
Delaware was to follow with recruits. 

By a strange piece of folly, the three commanders, with all 
their documents, and a great part of the provision, embarked 
on board the same ship. On the 25th of July, this vessel, " in 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 435 

the tayle of a Hericano^'' (hurricane) was separated from the 
squadron, and was wrecked on one of the Bermudas. An- 
other perished in the storm, and the remainder, without any 
general commander, arrived safely at Jamestown. They "w^ere, 
however, in miserable condition from the effects of the tem- 
pestuous voyage ; many of the passengers had died, and many 
others were suffering from sickness. 

The new comers themselves, it appears, were of a descrip- 
tion grievously ill adapted to the career they had undertaken 
— "much fitter to spoil a commonwealth than to help to raise 
or maintain one." In "this lewd company," we are told, 
"were many vnruly Gallants, packed thither by their friends 
to escape ill destinies," many broken down gentlemen, and 
bankrupt tradesmen, needy adventurers, and decayed serving- 
men. Naturally enough, being without an authorized leader, 
they fell into utter anarchy and misrule, every day setting up 
and pulling down authorities, and remodelling the government 
after a dozen different fashions. 

Such was the disordered condition of the colony, that the 
more sensible entreated Captain Smith to resume the com- 
mand, which, at the news of his displacement, he had at once 
relinquished. Seeing that no one as yet had authority to sup- 
plant him, he consented, though reluctantly; and in a little 
time, by a vigorous exertion of authority, reduced the settle- 
ment to something like order. To divide the numbers which 
overflowed Jamestown, it was now resolved that an hundred 
and twenty men, under Martin, should proceed to form a set- 
tlement at Nanscmond, and a like number, under Captain 
West, at the Falls of James River. The first of these planta- 
tions, from the inefficiency of its commander, and the attacks 
of the irritated natives, proved an entire failure. The second 
was pitched in a place exposed to inundations and other incon- 
veniences, and Captain Smith, to provide a better site, made 
an agreement for the purchase of Powhatan, with its fort and 
all the houses, from the chief of that name, and proposed 
their removal thither. "But both this excellent place and 



436 NORTH AND SOUTH AJIERICA. 

those good conditions did these furies refuse, contemning both 
him, his kinde care and authoritie." He went to them in per- 
son, Avith only five men, but was compelled by their violence 
to betake himself to the vessel. Here he waited for nine days, 
hoping that they would listen to redson, and much concerned 
to hear the continual complaints of the Indians, who thronged 
around him with repeated accounts of the violence and injus- 
tice of the new comers. 

He had sailed a little way down the river, when news came 
that the exasperated savages had attacked the settlement, and 
killed a number of the English. He instantly hastened to the 
scene, and found the refractory settlers so thoroughly alarmed 
that they made instant submission to his authority. He then 
removed them to the fortified town of Powhatan, where, how- 
ever, they did not long remain, returning, with infatuated 
obstinacy, to their old position. 

A severe and dangerous accident befell the captain, as he 
was returning in his boat to Jamestown. A bag of powder 
exploded near him, while asleep, burning his body in a shock- 
ing manner, and setting fire to his clothes. To quench his 
burning garments, he leaped overboard, and was with diffi- 
culty saved from drowning. In this miserable condition, 
without the assistance of surgery, he was carried nearly a 
hundred miles to Jamestown. It is said that Ratclifie, Archer, 
and other disturbers of the colony, fearing punishment for 
their misdeeds, and "seeing the President vnable to stand, and 
neere bereft of his senses by reason of his torment, plotted to 
murder him in his bed. But his heart did faile him that 
sliould have given fire to that mercilesse Pistoll." 

The disabled president, despairing of recover}^ without bet- 
ter surgical aid, now made up his mind to leave the colony, 
over whose interests he had watched with such unwearied and 
parental assiduity. He knew that the arrival of any of the 
new dignitaries would supplant his authority; and, incapaci- 
tated from active exertion, he was worn out with care and 
anxiety. Early in the autumn of 1G09, he sot sail for Eng- 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 437 

land, leaving in Virginia four hundred and ninety colonists, 
well supplied with the means of defence, subsistence, and 
improvement. 

It is almost impossible to over-estimate the services of this 
remarkable man in laying the foundation of the American 
empire. The brilliant feats of arms which he performed, and 
the deadly perils which he so often encountered, are little in 
comparison with the untiring zeal, the ever-watchful foresight, 
and the sagacious policy by which, for years, he sustained, on 
his single arm, the entire weight of the existence of the col- 
ony. Incompetency of his employers, mutiny among his fol- 
lowers, the hostility of powerful tribes, sickness, privations, 
and famine itself, were all remedied or conquered by his 
almost unaided exertions. 

Kude and violent as he often was toward the offending 
natives, no white man, perhaps, ever so far conciliated the 
favor and gained the respect of the Indian race. His very 
name, long after, was a spell of power among them, and had 
he remained in Virginia a few years longer, the memorable 
massacre which, in 1622, proved an almost fatal blow to the 
settlements in that country, would, it is probable, never have 
been perpetrated. The wretched condition of the colony, 
immediately after his departure, may be given in the rude but 
graphic language of one who shared its misfortunes : 

"Now we all found the losse of Captaine /Smith, yea, his 
greatest maligners could now curse his losse; as for corne, 
provision, and contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing 
but mortall wounds, with clubs and arrowes ; as for our Hogs, 
Hens, Goates, Sheepe, Horse, or what lived, our commanders, 
of&cers, and Salvages daily consumed them, some small pro- 
portions sometimes we tasted till all was deuoured ; then swords, 
arms, pieces, or any thing wee traded with the Salvages, whose 
cruell fingers were so oft imbrewed in our blouds, that what 
by their crueltie, our Gouernour's indiscretion, and the losse 
of our ships, of five hundred, within six moneths after Cap- 
taine Smiths departure, there remained not past sixtie men, 



438 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

women, and cliildren, most miserable and poore creatures ; and 
those were preserved, for the most part, by rootes, herbes, 
walnuts, acornes, now and then a little fish ; they that had 
starch, in these extremities made no small vse of it; yea, euen 
the very skinnes of our horses. Nay, so great was our fam- 
ine, that a Salvage we slew and buried, the poorer sort tooke 
him vp againe and eat him, and so did divers one another 
boyled and stewed with rootes and herbs: And one amongst 
the rest did kille his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part 
of her before it was knowne, for which hee was executed as 
hee well deserved; now whether shee was better roasted, 
boyled, or carbonado'd, I know not, but of such a dish as 
powdered wife I never heard of This was that time, which 
still to this day we call 'the starving time;' it were too vile to 
say and scarce to bee beleeved what we endured; but the 
occasion was our owne, for want of providence, Industrie, and 
government." 

Such are the trials, sufferings, and privations, amid which, 
too often, the foundation of a commonwealth in the wilderness 
must be laid — misfortunes at times scarcely avoidable, but, as 
in the present case, infinitely aggravated by the want of a firm, 
sagacious, and resolute Head. 



CHAPTER XI. 

SBHTH's voyage to new ENGLAND SURVEY OF THE COAST, ETC. — 

VILLANY OF THOMAS HUNT SMITH's SECOND EXPEDITION MIS- 

FORTUNES-: — PIRATES SMITH CAPTURED HIS ADVENTURES — 

HIS ESCAPE RETURN TO ENGLAND — HIS EXERTIONS FOR 

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Little is known of the life of Captain Smith from the time 
of his departure from Virginia until the year 1614. In March 
of that year, an expedition, which he joined in fitting out, 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 439 

and which was probably undertaken at his suggestion, was 
dispatched by some London merchants to New England, for 
the purposes of trade and discovery. Two ships, one com- 
manded by himself, and the other by Thomas Hunt, set sail 
from London, and by the last of April arrived at the island 
of Manhegin, on the coast of Maine. "Our plot there," says 
the captain, "was to take Whales," and for this purpose seven 
boats were built; but "we found this AVhale-fishing," he adds, 
"a costly conclusion; we saw many and spent much time in 
chasing them, but could not kill any," 

The crews were therefore set to work, with better success, 
in catching and curing cod, and Smith, meanwhile, in a small 
boat, with eight men, surveyed and mapped out the whole 
coast, from Penobscot to Cape Cod. He had two fights Avith 
the Indians, and obtained of them by traffic an immense num- 
ber of beaver-skins and other valuable furs. In August he 
returned to England, leaving Captain Hunt to continue the 
fishing, and then to dispose of his cargo in Spain. But that 
unprincipled wretch, at his departure, to use the honestly- 
indignant language of Smith, "betraied foure and twenty of 
those poore Salvages aboord his ship, and most dishonestly 
and inhumanely, for their kinde vsage of me and all our men, 
caried them with him to Maligo^'" (Malaga) " and there for a little 
priuate gaine sold those silly Salvages for Rials of eight; but 
this vilde act kept him euer after from any more imploiment 
to those parts." We have seen how a similar act of treachery, 
committed by Cartier on his friendly hosts of the St. Lawrence, 
delayed and embarrassed the foundation of a French colony on 
that river; and there can be little doubt that this inhuman 
instance of wholesale kidnapping, reported along the coast, 
excited much of that hostile feeling which the settlers of New 
England afterwards encountered. 

In Smith's map, he had mostly given the Indian names to 
the points on which he touched, with a few others, commemo- 
rative of his own adventures. Cape Anne was called Traga- 
bigzanda, in honor of his kind young mistress at Constantinople,, 



440 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and the Isles of Shoals received the ominous title of "The 3 
Turhes' Heads." Most of these names, at his request, were 
changed by Prince Charles (Charles I.) to others, the greater 
part of which, adopted from English localities, are still retained. 

At Plymouth, where the captain put in, he found several 
persons "interested in the dead patent of this vnregarded 
countrey," and was induced by the company of that port to 
undertake a voyage in their service. To fulfil this engage- 
ment he honorably relinquished the flattering proposals of the 
Virginia company, who now, appreciating the true value of 
his past exertions, were eager to avail themselves of his cour- 
age, enterprise, and good judgment. 

After experiencing much delay and disappointment, in 
March, 1615, he set sail, with two vessels, intending to form a 
permanent settlement in New England. But his ship being 
dismasted and almost wrecked by a gale, he was compelled to 
put back into Plymouth: and it was not until the 24th of 
June, that he again embarked, in a little vessel of only sixty 
tons, to prosecute his enterprise. This voyage was one series 
of misfortunes. First he fell in with an English pirate of thirty- 
six guns, and these sea-rovers were amazed to find a little 
vessel of only four cannon stand so stoutly to her defence, 
until they recognized the valiant Smith, under whom several 
of them had served long before — probably in the Turkish wars. 
They had seized this ship at Tunis, and had run away with her, 
and being now in a state of mutiny, begged the captain to take 
command of them — which offer, however, he declined. 

He sailed on, and near Fayal met with two French pirates, 
whom, despite the reluctance of his crew, he stoutly resisted, 
swearing to blow up his vessel, rather than yield, as long as 
there was a charge of powder left on board — "so together by 
the eares we went," says his steward, in deposition, "and at 
last got cleere of them for all their shot." Having escaped 
this danger, at Flores he had the ill-fortune to be chased by 
four French men-of-war, dispatched to capture Spaniai'ds and 
pirates. Despite his commission under the Great Seal, the 



SETTLEMENT OF VIliGlNIA. 441 

unscrupulous admiral seized and plundered bis litile vessel, 
which, however, he finally dismissed, retaining Smith, whose 
revenge he dreaded, as a prisoner. She made her way back 
to Plymouth, 

All summer these Frenchmen, who were no better than 
pirates themselves, cruised about the islands, taking and plun- 
dering numerous vessels, without any regard to the flag they 
might carry. When they attacked any English craft. Smith 
was kept prisoner in the cabin ; but when they fell in with a 
Spaniard, they were glad enough to avail themselves of his 
valor and seamanship. All was fish which came to their net. 
"The next wee tooke," says the captain, "was a small English 
man of Poole^ from New found land: the great Cabben at this 
present was my Prison, from whence I could see them pillage 
these jDoor men of all they had and halfe their fishe; when lice 
was gone, they sold his poore clothes at the maine Mast by an 
outcry, which scarce gaue each man seven pence a peece," 
With much less compunction he describes the capture of a 
rich Spanish galleon — "a West Indies man of warre, of one 
hundred and sixty tons, a fore noone wee fought with her and 
then tooke her, with one thousand one hundred Hides, fiftie 
chests of Cutchanele, fourteene coffers of wedges of Silver, 
eight thousand Rialls of eight, and six Coffers of the King of 
Spaine's Treasure, besides the good pillage and rich Coffers of 
many rich passengers, 

"Two monetlis they kept me in this manner to manage their 
fights against the Spaniards, and bee a prisoner when they 
tooke any English," In these encounters with the Spaniard 
(his national foe) the captain doubtless displayed all his accus- 
tomed bravery and martial cunning; for his captors repeatedly 
promised that, when they came to France, he should have ten 
thousand crowns for his reward. Nevertheless, on arriving at 
liochelle, they still kept him prisoner, fearing to be called to 
an account for their misdeeds. lie was not, however, a man 
to be detained by light vigilance. 

"In the end of such a storme," he says, "as beat them aU 



442 XORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

vnder liatclies, I watched my opportunitie to get a sliore in 
tlieir Boat, wliereinto in the darke night I secretly got, and 
with a halfe Pike that hiy by me, put a drift for Rat lie; but 
the currant was so strong, and the Sea so great, I went a drift 
to Sea, till it pleased God the wind so turned with the tide, 
that although I was in all this fearefull night of gusts and 
raine in the Sea the space of twelve hours, when many ships 
were driuen a shore and diners split, : (and being with skulling 
and bayling the water tired, I expected each minute would 
sinke me) at last I arriued in an Oazy lie by Charowne, where 
certaine Fowlers found me neere drowned, and halfe dead, 
with water, cold, and hunger." The ship which he had so 
daringly quitted had been wrecked, and the captain and half 
the crew were drowned. Soon after, he returned to England. 
His description of New England and of the voyages which 
he had made thither, was written on board the Frenchman, to 
alleviate the weariness of captivity, and was published soon 
after his return. To awaken an interest in that country, whose 
future greatness and prosperity his sagacious eye clearly fore- 
saw, he travelled through the west of England, and distributed 
seven thousand copies of his book among different persons of 
note and influence. " But all," he says, despondingly, " availed 
no more than to hew rocks with oyster shells," though he 
received the most lavish promises, and, as a testimony of his 
merits, was invested by the Plymouth company with the hon- 
orable title of "Admiral of New England." The seed he had 
sowed with such unrequited pains, was, however, years after- 
wards destined to ripen into a goodly harvest. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 443 



CHAPTERXII. 

'. ACCOUNT OF POCAHONTAS HER TREACHEROUS CAPTURE BY THE 

'. ENGLISH MARRIED TO MR. ROLFE — SAILS FOR ENGLAND — • 

i smith's LETTER IN HER BEHALF THEIR INTERVIEW 

■ COURT FAVOR HER DEATH. 

Although Captain Smith, to whom she was especially 
attached, had quitted Virginia, Pocahontas still remained the 
firm friend of the colony he had planted, and was still active 
in saving the lives of the English from the treachery or hos- 
tility of her countrymen. Despite the affection of her father, 
she had doubtless incurred his displeasure by her repeated 
interference in behalf of his foes ; and it is probable that her 
gentle and feminine spirit was continually grieved with the 
scenes of warfare and massacre which, at the departure of 
Smith, ensued between the Indians and the settlers. In 1612, 
she had quitted his household, and was residing in great 
retirement, near the house of Japazaws, chief of the Potomacs. 

Captain Argall, afterwards governor, on a trading expedition 
to that nation, resolved to get possession of her person, as a 
hostage for the fair dealing of Powhatan ; and by the bribe of 
a copper kettle, induced Japazaws and his wife to enter into 
his scheme. By a most artful device, this treacherous old 
couple persuaded her to accompany them on board the Eng- 
lish vessel, where Argall hospitably received them, "/apa- 
zaws oft treading on the Captaine's foot to remember he had 
done his part." She was presently informed that she would 
be detained at Jamestown until peace should be made with her 
father; "whereat the old lew and his wife began to howle and 
crie as fast as Pocahontas." Her tears, however, were soon 
dried by fair promises, and she went quietly to Jamestown. 
A message was dispatched to the king that he could ransom 
her only by the delivery of the numerous arms and other 
valuables which his people had stolen from the English. ^ 

"This vnwelcome newcs," says the narrator, "much troubled 



444 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Powhatayi, because hee loued both his daughter and our com- 
modities well," and for a long time fruitless negotiations, 
varied by hostilities, were kept up. But the amiable prin- 
cess, who had so often befriended the infant colony, was 
destined to render it one more and the greatest service in 
allying her race to that of the whites by the strong ties of 
family connection. 

"Long before this," proceeds the narrative, "Master John 
Eolfe, an honest Gentleman, and of good behavior, had beene 
in loue with Pocaliontas and she with him, which resolution 
Sir Thomas Dale well approved; the brute" (report) "of this 
mariage soon came to the knowledge of Powhatayi, a thing 
acceptable to him, as appeared by his sudden consent, for 
within ten dales, he sent Opachisco an old Yncle of hers, and 
two of his sons, to see the manner of the marriage, and to doe 
in that behalfe what they were requested, for the confirmation 
thereof as his deputie ; which was accordingly done about the 
first of Aprill :" (1613) " And euer since wee haue had friendly 
trade and commerce as well with Powhatan himselfe, as all his 
subiects," An alliance with the Chickahominies was likewise 
the result of this auspicious union. 

In the spring of 1616, Pocahontas, now called the Lady 
Eebecca, with her husband and child, ("which shee loued most 
dearely,") accompanied Sir Thomas Dale to England. She had 
learned English and Christianity, and, says the narrator, "was 
become very formall and civill after our English manner" — a 
great contrast, no doubt, to the little Indian princess who had 
presented Smith and his friends with the heathenish "anticke" 
at Werowocomoco. The captain, on learning of her arrival, 
lost no time in commending her merits to persons of rank and 
distinction, and, in a long letter to Queen Anne, (wife of James 
I.,) set forth the excellent quahties and valuable services of 
his preserver. 

"If ingratitude," he premises, "bee a deadly poyson to all 
honest vertues, I must bee guiltie of that crime, if I should 
omit any meanes to bee thankfull. So it is, 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGIXIA. 445 

" That some ten yeeres agoe being in Virginia, and taken 
prisoner by the power of Powhatan their chiefe king, I received 
from this great Salvage exceeding great courtesie, especially 
from his Sonne Nantaquaus^ the most manliest, comeliest, bold- 
est spirit I euer saw in a Salvage, and his sister Pocahontas the 
King's most deare and wel-beloved daughter, being but a childe 
of twelve or thirteene yeeres of age, whose compassionate 
pitifull heart, of desperate estate, gaue me much cause to respect 
her: I being the first Christian this proud King and his grim 
attendants euer saw; and thus inthralled in their barbarous 
power, I cannot say I felt the least occasion of want that was 
in the power of those my mortall foes to preuent, notwithstand- 
ing al their threats. After some six weekes fatting among 
those Salvage Courtiers, at the minute of my execution, she 
hazarded the beating out of her owne braines to save mine, 
and not onely that, but so prevailed with her father, that I 
was safely conducted to lames Towne^ where I found about 
eight and thirtie miserable poore and sicke creatures, to keepe 
possession of all those large territories of Virginia, such was 
the weaknesse of this poore Commonwealth, as had the Salvages 
not fed vs, we directly had starved. 

"And this reliefe, most gracious Queene, was commonly 
brought vs by this lady Pocahontas, notwithstanding all those 
passages when inconstant Fortune turned our peace to warre, 
this tender Virgin would still not spare to dare to visit vs, 
and by her our jarres haue beene oft appeased, and our wants 
supplyed; were it the policie of her father thus to imploy her, 
or the ordinance of God thus to make her his instrument, or 
her extraordinarie affection to our Nation, I know not : but of 
this I am sure; when her father with the vtmost of his policy 
and power sought to surprize mee, hauing but eighteene with 
mee, the darke night could not affright her from comming 
through the irksome woodes, and -with watered eies gaue mee 
intelligence, with her best aduice to escape his furie ; which 
had hee knowne, hee had surely shiine her. lames Towne, 
with her wild train, she has freely frequented as her father's 



446 NORTH AND SOUTE AMERICA. 

habitation ; and during the time of two or three yeeres, she 
next vnder God, was still the instrument to preserve this 
colonie from death, famine, and vtter confusion, which if in 
those times had once been dissolvd, Virginia might haue laine 
as it was at our first arrivall to this day." 

In the like homely, but honest and eloquent strain, he con- 
jures the queen to receive with all honor and kindness the 
brave and gentle-spirited princess, who had served her colonies 
so well. When he went to see his old friend, fearing, no 
doubt, to prejudice her court favor by too great a show of 
familiarity,* the captain saluted her with ceremonious gravity, 
which, after so long a separation, gave evidently no small 
pang to her affectionate heart. " Without any word," he says, 
"she turned about, obscured her face, as not seeming well con- 
tented." Despite of "formall and civill" education, the ag- 
grieved Indian sullenness, and with good cause, now showed 
itself. "In that humour," proceeds the captain, "her husband, 
with diuers others, we all left her two or three houres, repent- 
ing myself to haue writ shee could speake English.'''' (Much 
better have given at once that affectionate recognition, for 
which her honest heart was yearning). 

"But not long after, she began to talke, and remembered 
mee well what courtesies shee had done; saying, 'You did 
promise Powhatan what was yours should bee his, and he the 
like to you ; you called him father, being in his land a stran- 
ger, and by the same reason so must I doe you:' which 
though I would have excused, that I durst not allow of that 
title, because 'she was a King's daughter, with a well set coun- 
tenance she said, 'Were you not afraid to come into my 
father's Countrie, and caused feare in him and all his people, 

* Among the numerous pettinesses of James I., perhaps none is more 
ludicrous than his indignation against Mr. Rolfe, for having presumed, being a 
subject, to marry into the blood-royal ! His absurd demeanor in tliis matter 
unquestionably made the friends of Pocahontas cautious of exhibiting a fam- 
iliarity which he might have deemed both disrespectful to royal dignity, and 
indicative of dangerous influence with the native dynasty of Virginia. 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 447 

(but mee) and feare you here I should call you father? I tell 
you then I will, and you shall call mee childe, and so I will 
bee for euer and euer your Countrieman. They did tell vs 
alwaies you were dead, and I knew no other till I came to 
PUmouth; yet Poivhatan did command Vttamatomakkin* to 
seeke you, and to know the truth, because your Countriemen 
will he much." 

The jealousy of the foolish James, it would seem, was di- 
verted by the prudent conduct of Smith and her other friends ; 
lor, says the captain, "The small time I stayed in London^ ■ 
diuers Courtiers and others, my acquaintance, hath gone with 
mee to see her, that generally concluded, they did thinke God 
had a great hand in her conversion, and they haue scene many 
English Ladies worse favoured, proportioned, and behavioured, 
and as since I haue heard, it pleased both the King and 
Queene's Maiestie honourably to esteeme her, accompanied by 
that honourable Lady, the Lady De la Warre, and that hon-, 
ourable Lord, her husband, and diuers other persons of good 
qualities, both publikely at the maskes and otherwise, to her 

* "This Salvage," says Smith, "one of Powhatan's Councell, being 
amongst them held a vnderstanding fellow; the King purposely sent him, as 
they say, to number the people here, and informe him well what wee were 
and our state. Arriving at PUmouth, according to his directions he got a 
long sticke, whereon by notches hee did thinke to haue kept the number of 
all the men hee could see; but hee was quickly wearie of that taske: Com- 
ming to London, where by chance I met him, hauing renewed our acquaintance, 
where many were desirous to heare and see his behaviour, he told me Pow- 
hatan did bid him to finde me out, to show him our God, the King, Queene, 
and Prince, I so much had told them of: Concerning God, I told him the 
best I could, the King I heard hee had scene, and the rest hee should see 
when hee would: hee denyed euer to haue scene the King, till by circum- 
stances he was satisfyed he had: Then he reply*! very sadly, ' You gaue 
Powhatan a white Dog, which Powhatan fed as himselfe, but your King gaue 
me nothing, and I am better than your white Dog.'" 

When he returned to Virginia, Powhatan asked him how many people 
there were in England. He answered, "Count the stars in the sky, the 
leaves on the trees, the sand on the sea-shore, such is the number of people 
in England." 



448 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

great satisfaction and content, whicli doubtless she would haue 
deserved, had she lived to arrive in Virginia." 

She was fated never again to see the pleasant land of Vir- 
ginia, nor the aged father, whose life was hastening to its close. 
She died at Gravesend, on her way to her native country, 
in the spring of 1617, at the early age of twenty-two. Her 
father followed her the next year, being then nearly eighty 
years old. She left a son, from whom a numerous race have 
descended, many still dwelling in Virginia. Among them was 
the celebrated John Eandolph, of Roanoke — justly prouder of 
his descent from the old imperial race of Powhatan, illustrated 
by the more gentle heroism of his daughter, than he could 
have been of the noblest derivation from European ancestry. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SMITH IN ENGLAND — MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA HIS OFFERS — 

ANSWERS TO THE COMMISSION HIS WRITINGS HIS DEATH 

CHARACTER AND SERVICES. 

Captain Smith had received the most lavish promises from 
the Plymouth company, who were anxious to retain him in 
their service, and had been assured, in 1617, that he should 
be sent out to New England, with a fleet of twenty shi};is, to 
form a settlement on a scale commensurate with the import- 
ance of the country. But this agreement never was fulfilled, 
and during the remainder of his life he resided in England, 
using every exertion to stimulate his countrymen to American 
enterprise. The Virginian colony had largely increased, and 
the raising of tobacco and other profitable productions of the 
countr}^, was in the process of successful experiment. 

On the 27th of March, 1622, a terrible blow was struck ut, 
the prosperity of the settlement. Opechancanough, enrngod 
at the killing of one of his favorite councillors, named "Jack 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 4/19 

of the Feather," had plotted, with incredible secresy and 
treachery, the entire destruction of the whites. So sudden 
and well-concerted was the attack of the Indians, that tliree 
hundred and forty-seven of the settlers, including six of tlie 
council, were helplessly massacred. All ties of friendship and 
hospitality were disregarded, and tlie infuriated savages, in 
many cases, rose from the tables which had been unsuspect- 
ingly spread for them, to murder their entertainers. "Neither 
yet," says the historian, "did these beasts spare those amongst 
the rest well knowne vnto them, from whom they had daily 
receiued many benefits, but spitefully also massacred them 
without any remorse or pitie ; being in this more fell than 
Lions and Dragons (as Histories record) which haue pre- 
served their Benefactors; such is the force of good deeds, 
though done to cruell beasts, to take humanitie vpon them; 
but these miscreants put on a more vnnatural brutishnesse than 
beasts," &c. 

It is not too much to suppose that if the dauntless and saga- 
cious Smith, who, fifteen years before had held this treacherous 
king "by the hayre of his head," before all his people, had 
remained in Virginia, this grievous misfortune to the colony 
would never have occurred. He now made proposals to the 
Virginia company that if they would but allow him an hundred 
and thirty men, "to imploy onely in ranging the Countries and 
tormenting" (harassing) "the Salvages," he would keep the 
whole of Virginia in peace and subjection ; but their parsimony 
prevented them from acceding to his proposal. Accordingly, 
seventeen years afterwards, a more terrible and wide-spread 
massacre, in which more than five hundred of the colonists 
perished, was contrived and executed by the same treacherous 
and uncompromising foe (Opechancanough). 

In the following year, (1628,) a royal commission was ap- 
pointed to inquire into the condition of the colony, and the 
answers of the captain, who was examined before it, are char- 
acterized by his accustomed shrewdness, good policy, and 
thorough information. Some of the questions of the p-ontle- 
21» 



450 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

men who composed it, indicate a sad ignorance of political 
economy. They ask — 

"Quest. 2. What conceive you should be the cause, though the 
Country he good, there comes nothing hut TobaccoV 

In answer to this sagacious query, (which may have been 
prompted by the well-known prejudice of King James against 
"the stinking weed,") the captain sensibly enough informs 
them, that tobacco being worth three shillings a pound (nearl}'' 
equal to $2,00 at the present day) it was the most profitable 
crop that could be raised. 

Quest. 6. " What thinhe you are the defects of the government 
both here and thereP 

Ansiv. "The multiplicity of opinions here and of officers 
there, makes such delaies by questions and formalitie that as 
much time is spent in compliment as in action" — an opinion 
which he enforces with much searching detail. His advice, 
which the last question demanded, is given with much good 
sense, charity, and modesty. "Many," he concludes, "have 
done their vtmost best, sincerely and truly according their 
conceit and vnderstanding, yet gross errours have beene com- 
mitted. But no man lives without his fault; for my owne 
part, I have so much adoe to amend my owne, I have no 
leisure to look into any man's particular." 

In 1624, King James dissolved the company, and abrogated 
what little semblance of self-government had been alloAved it. 
At his death, which soon after occurred, Charles I., naturally 
inclined to arbitrary power, announced that the entire control 
of the colony would be vested in himself and the officers of 
his appointment. 

Little is known of the last few years of the life of Captain 
Smith. They were probably passed quietly in Loudon, in 
easy competence, and in a repose which must have seemed 
all the more tranquil from the stirring and eventful scenes in 
which nearly his whole life had been passed. He wrote and 
edited quite a number of works, especially on American sub- 
jects, and was engaged in composing a "History of the Sea," 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 451 

when, in 1631, death overtook him. None of the circum- 
stances have survived. 

In the whole history of adventure, discovery and explor- 
ation, there are few names more honorable or more deservedly 
famous than that of Captain John Smith. To us, he has 
always appeared (to his very name and title) the finest and 
most perfect exemplar of a bold Englishman that ever figured 
on the stage of the world. In his character, bravery, fortitude, 
sagacity, and sound common sense, were so happily tempered 
and united as to command instinctive respect ; while the toler- 
ably infused tincture of impetuosity, prejudice, and self-will 
seems only to add a piquancy to his worthier traits, and more 
finely to set off" the national characteristics. His love of enter- 
prise, and his daring, chivalrous spirit, were tempered with a 
judgment, moderation, and humanity, which, in so rough a 
career, have never been surpassed. The cutter off of Turks' 
heads, the desperate Indian fighter, and the sworn enemy of 
the Spaniard, is all compassion and sympathy when the "silly 
Salvages" are kidnapped by his treacherous countrymen, or 
when the "poore clothes" of "a small English-man," are sold 
by outcry at the main-mast of a pirate. 

In early youth, his grand passion was for fighting and 
renown, no matter on what field, so that a man of honor might 
engage. In maturer years, the noble passion for founding 
nations and spreading civilization took a yet firmer possession 
of his soul. "Who," he exclaims, in his manly address to 
the idlers of England, "who can desire more content that hath 
small meanes, or but onely his merit to advance his fortunes 
than to tread and plant that ground he hath purchased by the 
hazard of his life; if hee haue but the taste of vertue and 
magnanimity, what to such a mind can bee more pleasant than 
planting and building a foundation for his posterity, got from the 
rude earth by God's blessing and his owne industry, without 
prejudice to any; if hee haue any graine of faith or zeale in 
Religion, what can hee doe lesse hurtfull to any, or more 
agreeable to God, than to seeke to convert those poore Salvages 



452 NOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

to know Christ and humanity, whose labours with discretion 
■will triply reward thy charge and paine; what so truly sutes 
with honor and honesty, as the discouering things vnknowne, 
erecting Townes, peopling Countries, informing the ignorant, 
reforming things uniust, teaching vertue and gaine to our 
native mother Country ; to finde imploiment for those who are 
idle, because they know not what to doe ; so farre from wrong- 
ing any, as to cause posterity to remember thee, and remem- 
bering thee, euer honor that remembrance with praise." 

"Then," reversing the picture, he proceeds, "who would 
live at home idly, or thinke in himselfe any worth to live, 
onely to eate, drinke, and sleepe, and so die ; or by consuming 
that carelesly, his frinds got worthily, or by vsing that miser- 
ably that maintained vertue honestly, or for being descended 
nobly, and pine with the vaine vaunt of great kindred in 
penury, or to maintaine a silly shew of bravery," (finery,) 
"toile out thy heart, soule, and time basely; by shifts, tricks. 
Cards and Dice, or by relating newes of other mens' actions, 
sharke here and there for a dinner or supper, deceive thy 
friends by false promises and dissimulation, in borrowing 
where thou never meanest to pay, offende the Lawes, surfet 
with excesse, burthen thy Countrie, abuse thy selfe, despair in 
want and then cousen" (cozen) "thy kindred, yea, even thy 
owne brother, and wish thy Parents' death, (I will not say 
damnation,) to haue their estates, when thou seest what hon- 
ours and rewards the world yet hath for them, that will seeke 
them and worthily deserve them." 

The full merits of Smith, as the earliest and most indefati- 
gable promoter of the colonization of New England, have 
never been adequately appreciated. By his personal exertions 
in the survey and exploration of that neglected region, and by 
the continual publications which, at great pains and expense, 
lie industriously circulated in England, he awakened the pub- 
lic interest in an enterprise which otherwise, for many years, 
might have been slighted and deferred. He lived to see the 
foundations of a great nation firmly laid, both at the south 



SETTLEMENT OF VIRGIN' I A. 453 

and north, and though, like many other great projectors and 
laborers in the same field of action, he reaped no personal 
advantage (but rather much loss) from his exertion and enter- 
prise, he continued, to the day of his death, to regard the two 
colonies with the fond partiality of a parent, and to do all he 
could for their advancement, 

"By that acquaintance I haue with them," he says, "I 
call them my children, for they haue beene my Wife, my 
Ilawks, Hounds, my Cards, my Dice, and, in totall, my best 
content, as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my 
right. And notwithstanding all those miracles of disasters 
have crossed both them and me, yet were there not an Eng- 
lishman remaining, as God be thanked, notwithstanding the 
massacre, there are some thousands ; I would yet begin againe 
with as small meanes as I did at first, not that I have any 
secret encouragement (I protest) more than lamentable experi- 
ence; for all their discoveries I haue yet heard of, are but 
Pigs of my owne Sow, nor more strange to me, than to heare 
one tell me hee hath gone from Billingsgate and discouered 
Oravesend, Tilbury^ Quinhorow^ Lee, and Margit." 

It only remains to be added that, although, so far as we are 
informed, never married, the gallant captain was (and de- 
servedly) a general favorite with the ladies. There seems to 
have been a certain manhood and kindliness in his very look, 
which, almost at a glance, conciliated to him the good-will of 
the fairer and weaker portion of humanity. These favors, so 
flattering to the natural vanity of man, he bears worthily and 
with no offence to the givers, ever speaking with the utmost 
modesty and gratitude of the kindness he had so often experi- 
enced at their hands. 

His acknowledgment to the sex reminds us of the cele- 
brated eulogy pronounced by Ledyard. It occurs in his dedi- 
cation to the duchess of Richmond — "I confesse, my hand, 
though able to weild a weapon among the Barbarous, yet well 
may tremble in handling a pen among so many Judicious. * 
* * Yet my comfort is, that heretofore honourable and ver- 



454 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

tuous Ladies, and comparable but among themselues, haue 
offered me rescue and protection in my greatest dangers ; even 
in forraine parts I haue felt reliefe from that sex, — The beau- 
teous Lady Tragabigzanda, when I was a slaue to the Turkes, 
did all she could to secure me" (i. e. make me secure). " When 
I overcame the Bashaw of Nalhrits^ in Tartaria, the charitable 
Lady Callamata supplied my necessities. In the vtmost of 
many extremities, that blessed Pokahontas, the great Kings 
daughter of Virginia, oft saved my life. When I escaped the 
crueltie of Pirats and most furious stormes, a long time alone 
in a small Boat at Sea, and driven ashore in France^ the good 
Lady Madam Chanoyes bountifully assisted me." 



CAPTAIN HENRY HUDSON, 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 



CHAPTER I. 

ACCOUNT OF HENRY HUDSON HIS VOYAGES IN SEARCH OF A NORTHERLY 

PASSAGE TO INDIA MERMAIDS SAILS FOR THE DUTCH IN THE 

HALF MOON LANDS IN MAINE — CRUELTY TO THE INDIANS — 

SAILS BELOW VIRGINIA REACHES THE BAY OF NEW YORK. 

Very little is known of the early life of Henry Hudson, 
one of the boldest and most renowned discoverers of his day. 
He was a Londoner, and a friend of the famous Captain John 
Smith^ — with whom, it would seem, he often conferred upon 
the engrossing topic of discovery and exploration in the New 
"World. His first known expedition was one recorded by him- 
self, undertaken at the instance .of "certaine worshipfull mer- 
chants of London," as he says, "for to discover a passage by 
the North Pole to Japan and China."* 

For this gigantic undertaking, which to this da}' has baffled 
the entire exertion of the British empire, his only equipment 
was a little vessel, manned by ten mariners. With these, and 
with his little son John, after all had solemnly partaken of the 
sacrament, he set sail from Gravesend, on the 1st of May, 1607, 
to explore the fearful recesses of the Arctic Zone. Compared 
with the hardihood of such an undertaking, all modern enter- 
prise sinks into insignificance. 

On the 13th of June he made the coast of Greenland, where 

* " Diuera Voyuges and Northcrne Discoueries of that worthy irrecouerablo 
Discouerer, Master Henry Hudson." 



456 xorvTU and south America. 

he saw "a very high mount, like a round castle," which he 
named the Mount of GotVs Mercy. This coast he explored for 
a considerable distance and to a high latitude, "considering," 
he says, "wee found Lande contrarie to that our cards" (charts) 
"made mention of. * * ^ And for aught we could see, 
it is like to be a good land, and worth the seeing." He then 
stood to the north and east, in so high a latitude, that the sun 
•was continually above the horizon, and in seventy-eight de- 
grees fell in with Spitzbergen. About this island he hovered 
for some time, opposed by contrary winds, and entangled 
among huge masses of ice, hopelessly endeavoring to work 
his way to the northward. Convinced that, from the lateness 
of the season, it would be impossible to achieve his purpose, 
he sailed westward, vainly attempting to pass to the north of 
Greenland, and thence returned on the 15th of September to 
the Thames, having attained a higher latitude (eighty-two 
degrees) than any navigator who had preceded him. 

The next year (April 22d, 160S,) he again sailed, with his 
son and thirteen others, to seek a passage to India by the north 
of Nova Zembla. lie kept east and north until he gained 
so high a latitude that at midnight, the sun was five degrees 
and a half above the horizon, on the northern meridian. He 
reached Nova Zembla, which, he says, "is to a mans eye a 
pleasant Land; much mayne high Land with no Snow on 
it, looking in some places greene, and Deere feeding thereon. 
* * * This place vpon Nova Zembla is another than that 
which the Hollanders call Costing Sarch, discouered by Oliuer 
Broivnell^''^ — who, many years before, sailing northward, 
" moved by the hope of gain," had suftered shipwreck in these 
dreary seas. 

Hudson, as before, strove with much patience and fortitude 
to accomplish his purpose; but constant head winds and float- 
ing ice prevented his little ship from proceeding, and after 
making considerable survey in these desolate regions, he ro 
turned (August 26th,) to England. On this voyage, like 
Columbus, he chronicles the appearance of a couple of mer- 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YOKK. 457 

maids, giving the evidence of two of his hands for authority. 
On a certain day, he relates, "one of our company looking 
over boord, saw a mermaid ; and calling vp some of the com- 
panie to see her, one more came vp, and by that time shee was 
close to the ship's side, looking earnestly on the men : a little 
after a sea came and overturned her. From the Nauill up- 
wards, her backe and breasts were like a woman's (as they say 
that saw her) ; her body as big as one of vs ; her skinne very 
white; and longe haire hanging downe behind, of colour 
blacke ; in her going down they saw her tayle, which was like 
the tayle of a porposse, and speckled like a macrell. Their 
names thai saw her loerc Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner. 

The "worshipfull merchants," his employers, by this time, 
it would seem, began to relinquish their hopes of reaching 
India by the North Pole ; for they refused any longer to fit 
out even such slender expeditions as he had already com- 
manded. He therefore carried his services to the Dutch East 
India Company, where the reputation of "the bold English- 
man " (as he was called) insured him a favorable reception. 
They gave him the command of a little vessel, called the Half 
Moon, with a crew of twenty men. Among these was Eobert 
Juet, who had sailed with him as mate during his last voyage, 
and who wrote an account of the present expedition. 

He sailed from Amsterdam on the 25th of March, 1609, and 
doubled the North cape, still intent on finding his way round 
the north of Asia. But continual fogs, ice, and head winds 
retarded his course, and he finally put up his helm, and ran to 
the Faroe Isles. Thence he steered south-west, through a suc- 
cession of gales and foul weather, in search of a certain island, 
and by the 2d of July, found himself on the Great Bank of 
Newfoundland. A fleet of French vessels were fishing there, 
and his company had excellent luck in the same occupation. 
He then ran to the coast of North America, and entered Pen- 
obscot Bay. 

The Indians came off in a friendly and confiding manner, 
bringing beaver-skins and other furs for traffic, and an arnica- 



458 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

ble intercourse was for some time maintained. A tree was 
cut down and shaped, to replace the foremast, which had been, 
"in a great storme, spent ouer-boord." The departure of the 
vessel was disgraced by one of those atrocities so common in 
the early dealings of the whites with the unhappy aborigines. 
"In the morning," says Juet, "wee manned our scute with 
foure Muskets and sixe men, and took one of their shallops," 
(canoes) "and brought it aboord. Then we manned our boat 
and scute with twelue men and Muskets, and two stone Peeces 
or IMurdcrers," (very appropriately) "and draue the salvages 
from their houses and took the spoyle of them, as they would 
haue done of vs." There seems to have been no excuse for 
this villanous robbery, except a vague suspicion of secret 
enmity existing among the unfortunate natives. 

Hudson had been told by his friend. Captain Smith, that 
by going a little south of Virginia, he would find a passage to 
the Pacific ;(!) and as his men were weary of cruising in the 
inclemency of high latitudes, he sailed south-west along the 
coast. A boat's crew landed on Cape Cod, (discovered by 
Gosnold in 1602,) and found "goodly grapes and rose-trees" 
growing on the shore. The savages whom they met were 
friendly and confiding. They smoked tobacco in pipes of 
clay, with copper stems. The vessel coasted along shore until 
the middle of August, when she arrived off Chesapeake Bay. 
A colony had been established up this inlet, and Captain 
Smith, the friend of Hudson, was there at the time, engaged 
in his memorable adventures with the Indians ; but on account 
of contrary winds, the voyagers sailed by, and proceeded as 
far south as latitude thirty-six degrees. No passage to India 
was discovered ; and the commander, changing his course, ran 
northward, and discovered Delaware Bay, which he partially 
surveyed. The vessel met with much heavy weather, and one 
day, says Juet, "a great Sea broke into our fore corse and 
split it; so we were forced to take it from the yard and mend 
it; we lay under a trie with our mayne corse all night. This 
night our Cat ranne crying from one side of the ship to the 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK, 459 

other, looking ouer-boord, wliicli made vs to wonder; but we 
saw nothing." On the 2d of September, they came up to the 
Highlands of Neversink, the first land seen by those who 
approach New York from the sea — "a good land to fall in 
with, and a pleasant land to see," says the journal — a senti- 
ment echoed, in succeeding centuries, by many an anxious 
and sea-worn mariner. 



CHAPTER II. 

ENTRANCE INTO NEW YORK HARBOR HUDSON ASCENDS THE NORTH 

RIVER FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE WITH THE INDIANS — HOSTILI- 
TIES RETURN TO ENGLAND — VOYAGE TO THE NORTH-WEST 

MUTINY OF HIS CREW HUDSON LEFT TO PERISH. 

Bounding Sandy Hook, the little Half Moon stood up the 
Lower Bay, and came to an anchor. The natives, in their 
canoes, with great rejoicing, flocked on board the vessel, bring- 
ing tobacco and bread made of Indian corn. Their dresses 
were of deer-skins, and they had copper pipes and ornaments. 
The party sent on shore to explore described them as very 
kind and hospitable, and were enchanted with the beauty of 
the land, covered with v/oods, grassy meadows, and fragrant 
flowers. As they returned, however, in the evening, they 
were attacked by two canoes filled with savages, and one of 
their number was slain by an arrow. 

The following day, the Indians came alongside, in a 
friendly way, for traffic, probably ignorant of the late attack. 
Appearances, however, soon became suspicious, and Hudson, 
detaining two of them as hostages, weighed his anchor, and 
on the 11th of September, passed the Narrows and entered 
New York harbor. On his right was the lovely island of 
Mannahatta, now the site of the fairest city in the New 
World; and before him lay invitingly the beautiful and ma- 
jestic river which still bears his name. For many leagues it 



460 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

is rather an estuary than a stream, and it is said that he was 
cheered with the behef that it would prove to be the long- 
sought passage to India. On the 12th he weighed anchor, and 
stood for a few miles up the river, the natives coming off in 
great numbers, with oysters and vegetables for traffic. By the 
evening of the ensuing day he had ascended to the beautiful 
scenery of the Highlands. 

The next morning, his two savages, whom (perhaps to con- 
ciliate them) he had dressed in red coats, made their escape 
by leaping overboard, and on gaining the shore uttered their 
shrill war-whoop by way of defiance. He sailed up, and 
anchored at night near the present site of Catskill, where, says 
the chronicler, "wee found very louing people, and very olde 
men ; where wee were well vsed. Our boat went to fish, and 
caught great store of very good fish." The Indians brought 
corn, furs, tobacco, grapes, and pumpkins, to exchange for 
European goods. On the evening of the sixteenth, the Half 
Moon lay near the site of the present city of Hudson. Con- 
tinual trafiic was kept up with the Indians along the whole 
route, and great hospitality was shown to the voyagers — espe- 
cially by "an old Sauage, a Gouernour of the Countrey, who," 
says Juet, "carried our Master's Mate to his house, and made 
him good cheere." 

Here the captain, who seems to have felt a continual dis- 
trust of the savages, instituted a singular experiment "to trie 
some of the chiefe men of the Countrey, whether they had 
anie treacherie in them." On the strength of the old proverb, 
"/n vino veritas,^^ he determined to make these dignitaries 
intoxicated, that, if meditating any guile, they might betray 
it in their cups. His brandy proved very acceptable to them, 
and they got merry enough, while the wife of one of them 
who was present, says Juet, "sate so modestly as any one of 
our countrywomen would do in a strange place." The only 
efi'ect produced, however, was to make one of them dead 
drunk, at which the rest dispersed in alarm, and took to their 
canoes. On seeing him alive, however, the next day, their 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 461 

confidence revived, and they returned, with many presents, 
and numerous companioDs, "So at three of the clock in 
the afternoon," continues the narrative, "they came aboord, 
and brought tabacco and more Beades, and gaue them to our 
master, and made an Oration, and showed him all the Coun- 
trey round about. Then they sent one of their company on 
land, who presently returned, and brought a great platter full 
of venison, dressed by themselues, and they caused him to 
eate with them. Then they made him reuerence and departed, 
all save the old man that lay aboord." 

The little Half Moon, it would seem, ascended the river as 
high as the present city of Albany, and her boats explored 
the diminished channel for some distance farther. But it 
began to be clear that China was hardly to be reached in that 
direction; and Hudson, pleased with the beauty and value of 
his discoveries, resolved to return with the report to his em- 
ployers. As he beat slowly down the river, the Indians con- 
tinued to throng around his vessel, and an old man, who 
presented him with a string of beads (wampum), "showed all 
the country there about, as though it were at his command." 

By the 1st of October he reached the rocky headland, now 
known as Stony Point, and here a theft committed by an Indian 
was cruelly punished by shooting him dead, as he made off 
with his booty. In consequence of this rash and violent act, 
the vessel, on the following day, was attacked by a large num- 
ber of natives, in canoes and from the shore. A number of 
them, however, being slain by the cannon and musketry, the 
remainder fled, and Hudson, after this tragical sequel to a 
voyage so pleasantly commenced, pursued his course down 
the river unmolested. On the 4th he took his departure from 
New York Bay, and in about a month, arrived in safety at 
Dartmouth, in England. It is said that he wds here detained 
by the order of the English court, which regarded the Dutch 
expeditions with much jealousy; but he dispatched to his 
employers the charts and journals of the voyage, and the next 
year tliey were trading in the river which lie had explored. 



402 xoirni and south America. 

The fate of this renowned voyager was melancholy in the 
extreme. He sailed from London in the following year, (April 
17th, 1610,) in the employ of an English company, to search 
for that ever-fleeting phantasm of discovery, the North-west 
Passage. With him went Juet, and one Habakkuk Pricket, 
who has left a journal of the voyage. He took his son, as 
usual, and a young man named Greene. His vessel, the Dis- 
covery, was manned by a crew of twenty-three men. Quarrel 
and sedition sprung up early in the voyage. At Iceland, 
Greene, having disputed with the surgeon in Dutch, "beat him 
ashoare in English," and, Juet "(when hee was drunke)" se- 
cretly maligned the captain, and even persuaded the crew to 
seize the vessel and return to England. They doubled the 
southern point of Greenland, and were soon almost hopelessly 
involved in vast masses of ice. 

Getting clear at last, Hudson kept westward, and was en- 
gaged, during the month of July, in passing through the 
straits which bear his name. He then entered the great inland 
sea, now known as Hudson's Bay, and for a month longer 
steered a southerly course. At the end of that time he was 
brought up by the land, and passed September and October in 
making further surveys. The winter then came on, and he 
hauled the vessel aground, to await the approach of spring. 
By the 10th of November, she was completely frozen in. 

The winter passed drearily enough, and Hudson, soured by 
disappointment and provoked by the seditious conduct of his 
men, became daily more gloomy and irritable. Fresh symp- 
toms of mutiny, aggravated by his passionate indiscretion, 
soon appeared. "You shall vnderstand," says Pricket, "that 
our Master kept (in his house at London^) a young man named 
Henrie Green, born in Keni^ of Worshipfull Parents, but by 
his lend life and conuersation hee had lost the good will of all 
his frinds, and had spent all that hee had. This man our 
Master woulde haue to Sea with him, because hee coulde write 
well ; Our Master gaue him meate, and drinke, and lodging, 
and by meanes of one Master Venson, with much adoc, got 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 463 

foure poundes of his mother to buy him clothes, where Master 
Ve7isoji would not trust him ; but sawe it laid out himselfe. * 
* * •sf -jf * gQ Ilenrie Green stood vpright and very 
inward with the Master, and was a scruiccable man euery way 
for manhood; but for licligion hce would say, hee was cleane 
paper whereon hee might write wliat he would." 

Early in the winter the unfortunate gunner (" God pardon," 
says our author, "the Master's vncharitable dealing with this 
man,") had died, and his clothes, as usual, were put up at auc- 
tion, "at the Mayne Mast;" but a certain "gray gowne" (or 
over-coat), belonging to the deceased, was promised to Green, 
who had set his heart on possessing it. But Hudson, finding 
that he took the part of the carpenter (whom, for disobe- 
dience, "hee ferretted out of his cabbin to strike him, calling 
him by many foule names, and threatning to hang him,") now 
told him that he should not have it, and with much abuse 
reminded him that none of his friends at home would trust 
him with the value of twenty shillings. "But you shall see 
how the Deuill out of this so wrought with Greene that hee 
did the Master what mischiefe hee could." 

The jealous and irritable temper of mariners, long pent up 
together, in disastrous voyages, is well known; and when to 
this source of dissension are superadded privation, suffering, 
and the constant dread of starvation, it is hardly surprising that 
their minds should be filled with morbid imaginings, and that 
trifles should assume unnatural importance. In many a dreary 
narrative of the seas, we find matters of no greater moment than 
this wretched "gray gowne," magnified into importance, and 
the cause of the most lamentable quarrels and mutinies. 

After enduring grievous sufferings from cold and hunger,* 

* "Now in time those Fowles are gone, and few or none to bee soene. 
Then wee went into the Woodes, Hiiles, and Valleycs, for all things tiiat had 
any shew of substance in them, how vile soeuer; the mosse of the ground, 
than the which I take the powder of a post to be much better, and the Froggo 
(in his ingendring time as loathsome as a Toade,) was not spared." — Prick' 
tt(s Narrative. Most of the scanty remainder of the ship's stores — a miser- 
able pittance — "was equally divided by the Master, (and hee wept when he 



464 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

this miserable little crew of adventurers, embittered by mutual 
jealousy aud hatred, about the middle of June got under way, 
and tried to continue their voyage. They were soon again hem- 
med in by the ice ; the provisions were now almost exhausted ; 
and Hudson incurred fresh ill-will by compelling the men to 
produce their private stores — "thirty cakes in a bagge" being 
the only fruit of this arbitrary enforcement. 

An atrocious plot was now broached to Pricket by Greene 
and the boatswain, Wilson, who said that they, with Juet and 
other malcontents, had resolved to put their commander, with 
the disabled seamen, into the boat, and set them adrift; that 
there was no other chance of saving their own lives. Pricket 
remonstrated, but in vain — " away went Henrie Qreene^'' he says, 
"in a rage, swearing to cut his throate that went about to dis- 
turbe them, and left Wilson by mee, with whom I had some 
talke, but to no good: * * presently came luet^ who, be- 
cause hee was an ancient man, I hoped to haue found some 
reason in him; but hee was worse than Henry Greene^ for hee 
sware plainely that hee would iustifie this deed when hee came 
home. After him came lohn Thomas and Michel Perce, as 
birds of one feather, but because they are not lining, I will 
let them goe." 

Seeing his entreaties vain, the narrator finally compromised 
with his conscience by administering to each of the conspira- 
tors, upon a Bible, the following singular oath: "You shall 
swear truth to God, your Prince, and Countrie; you shall do 
nothing but to the glory of God and the good of the action in 
hand, and harme to no man." 

The unfortunate master, on coming on deck the next morn- 

gaue it) although hee had counsell to the contrarie ; for there were some who 
hauing it, would make hast to be rid thereof, because they could not gouerne it 
I know when Henrie Greene gaue halfe his breade, which hee had for four- 
teene dayes to one to keepe, and prayed him not to let him haue any againe 
vntill the next Munday ; but before Wednesday at night, hee neuer left till hee 
had it againe, haning eaten vp his first weekes bread before. So Wilson, the 
Boatswaiiie, hath eaten (in one day) his fortnight's bread, and hath been two 
or three dayea sicke for his labour." — Ibid. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 465 

ing, was seized by the mutineers, and pitt bound on board the 
shallop. The sick and lame, with one or two others, were 
compelled to accompany him: Prickett in vain remonstrating, 
on his knees, for the love of God, against such barbarity. The 
noble conduct of the carpenter deserves eternal honor. He 
had been seized at first, but was set at liberty, and, taking his 
musket, with an iron pot and a little meal, went down into 
the boat, refusing to desert his commander or his unfortunate 
messmates. 

Hudson, with his son and six men, having been put aboard 
of it, sail was made on the vessel. For a few hours she towed 
it after her, but, when partially clear of the ice, the inhuman 
wretches on board cut the line, and abandoned their miserable 
victims. After sailing awhile, they lay to, and rummaged the 
vessel for the small remainder of provision in the hold and the 
cabin, " sharking vp and downe " throughout the ship. " Now, 
it was said, that the Shallop was come within sight, they let 
falle the Maine-Sayle, and out with their Top-Sayles, and flye 
as from an Enemy." The little boat was soon again lost sight 
of, and nothing more was ever heard of its unfortunate crew. 
They doubtless soon perished of cold and hunger in the icy 
seas of the North. 

A mutiny blacker with crime and ingratitude has seldom 
been recorded; for the principal conspirators, especially 
Greene, were under obligations to Hudson, and the cruelty of 
forcing overboard the sick and disabled has hardly ever been 
paralleled, even in cases of the extremest suffering and dan- 
ger. But the lives of the conspirators, ransomed, as they sup- 
posed, by the sacrifice of their comrades, were destined to a lease 
but little longer than that accorded to their victims. They 
sailed for home, but touching at Digges' Cape, to kill wild 
fowl, were fiercely attacked by the savages. Greene and Wil- 
son, with two others, were killed or mortally wounded,* and 

* "But they all died there that day, William Wilson cursing and swearing 
in most fearefull manner; Michael Perse lined two days and then died, 
Thus you hauo heard the Tragicall end of Henry Greene and his Mates, 

30 



466 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEKiCA. 

the remaijidcr precipitately left the coast. Tliey stccrcl for 
Ireland, subsisting on the miserable remains of the provision 
they had secured (the bones of fowls fried in tallow and vine- 
gar, "a great daintie," says Prickett), and reduced to such a 
state of weakness that no one Avas able to stand at the helm — 
so they steered her sitting. Juet died of absolute hunger, and 
the remainder, after an absence of a year and a half, arrived, 
in wretched condition, on the coast of Ireland. 

The next year the London company sent ou.t the same ves- 
sel, with another, under the command of Captain Thomas 
Button, with orders to search for Hudson, and to attempt the 
North-west Passage. Both projects failed. Nothing raon 
was ever heard of the renowned lost navigator or his miser- 
able companions; and the terrible problem of the Passage, to 
this day, remains unsolved by human effort or ingenuity. 



CHAPTER III. 

VOYAGES OF THE DUTCH BLOK AND CHRISTIAANSE NEW AMSTERDAM 

(new YOKK) founded SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE — SINGU- 
LAR INCIDENT — MASSACRE OF THE COLONISTS — SWEDISH SET- 
TLEMENTS — GOVERNOR STU YVES ANT SUBDUES THE SWEDES 

CLAIMS OF THE ENGLISH GRANT OF CHARLES II. 

EXPEDITION TO NEW AMSTERDAM SEIZURE 

OF THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS. 

Though disappointed in their hopes of a passage to China, 
the Dutch company were not slow to perceive the advantages 
of the country discovered and explored in the voyage of the 
Half Moon. The year after (1610), they dispatched to Man- 
nahatta another vessel, in which were some of the mariners 
who had accompanied Hudson. The traffic for furs and other 

whom they called Captaiiie, these foure being the only lustie men in all the 
ship." — Prickett. 



\ 



SETTLK.MEXT OF NEW YORK. 467 

Indian commodities proved profitable, and a little land was 
purchased of the natives, by the same ingenious device which 
Dido, it is fabled, used to obtain the site of Carthage. After 
bargaining with the Indians for as much ground as the hide 
of a bullock would cover, the wily Dutchmen, we are told, 
cut it with their knives into a long and slender strip, and thus 
surrounded a considerable tract. 

Stimulated by the success of this voyage, several private 
adventurers fitted out vessels for the fur-trade, and met with 
profitable returns. Owing, however, to the remonstrances of 
the company, the States, in 1614, issued a decree, prohibiting 
private speculation for a term of years; and a new company 
was formed, under the auspices of the former, entitled, "The 
Amsterdam Licensed Trading West India Company." Two 
ships were fitted out, and sailed from Amsterdam the same 
year, under the command of Adrian Blok and Hendrick 
Christiaanse. Blok arrived first at Mannahatta, but soon after 
lost his vessel by fire. With much energy he set to work to 
build another, and, on her completion, set sail on a voyage of 
discovery. 

Rounding the southern point of Mannahatta, (now the Bat- 
tery,) he entered the East River, on which, from its furious 
tides and eddies, his crew bestowed the ill-omened title of 
" llelle-gadt," or Hell's Gap — a name, with a slight corrup- 
tion, retained to the present day. Passing through Long 
Island Sound, he sailed along shore as far as Cape Cod, where 
he met his consort, Christiaanse. The two commanders, in 
company, then cruised westward, surveying the coast, and nam- 
ing the various islands which they passed. One of these, 
Block Island, still retains the name of its discoverer. Among 
the inlets which they observed, were Narragansett Bay, and 
the Connecticut and Ilousatonic Rivers. 

They ascended the Hudson, and erected a fort on Castle 
Island, a little below the present site of Albany, of which 
Christiaanse took command. The powerful league of the Iro- 
quois, or Five Nations, engaged in continual hostilities with 



468 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the French of Canada, viewed with satisfaction the establish- 
ment of rival settlements at the South, and. to this cause is 
doubtless to be attributed the friendly attitude which, in gen- 
eral, they assumed to the Dutch and English colonists. 

In 1615, another little fort was built on Manhattan Island, 
(Mannahatta,) on the present site of New York, and for a 
number of years the Dutch vessels came regularly thither to 
receive the furs collected in the adjacent regions. This peace- 
able state of affairs was, for a brief time, disturbed by the visit 
of Captain Argall, of Virginia, who, returning from an expedi- 
tion against the French settlements in the North, made his 
way to Manhattan, and took possession of the fort in the name 
of the English sovereign; but this unjust assertion of an un- 
tenable claim was not, for many years afterwards, urged to 
extremity. The Dutch still kept up a prosperous trade, though 
occasionally infested by freebooters, who had already begun 
to frequent the coast. 

In 1621, the states-general chartered a new corporation, 
under the title of "The West Indian Company of the New 
Netherlands," which, two years afterwards, dispatched Cap- 
tain Mey, with a large number of colonists, well supplied, to 
found another settlement in America. His arrival at Manhat- 
tan was a great relief to that little establishment, which for 
two years had been visited by no ship from the mother-coun- 
try, and which was in constant apprehension of hostilities 
from Virginia and Canada. So reduced had the settlers be- 
come, for want of supplies, that they had been forced to use 
the sails of their fishing boats to malce clothes — an expedient, 
it may be remembered, the very reverse of that ado})ted by 
Captain Smith, and which tolerably illustrates the different 
genius of the two nations. ^ 

After relieving the settlement. Captain Mey stood eastward 
as far as Buzzard's Bay, and then, retracing his course, kept 
southward until he reached the Delaware river. Cape May, 
named after him, still attests his visit. Passing up the river, 
he founded a settlement, which he named Fort Nassau, on 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 469 

what is now known as Gloucester Point, a few miles below 
Philadelphia. In the same year, another fortification, called 
Fort Orange, was built on the Hudson, at the site of the present 
city of Albany. 

In 1625, the company sent out two more ships, with Waal- 
oon emigrants, under the command of Peter Minuit, the first 
"Governor of the New Netherlands." These people settled 
on Long Island, opposite Manhattan, and the name Wallabout 
(Wal-bocht, or Waaloon bend) still commemorates the place 
which they selected. Under the new governor, trade contin- 
ued to prosper and increase, and friendly communications, for 
purposes of commerce, were opened with the English at Ply- 
mouth and the Indians on Cape Cod. Public buildings were 
erected at Manhattan, and the little colony was soon in a 
nourishing condition. 

Captain De Vriez, an experienced East Indian navigator, 
was, in 1630, dispatched with thirty or forty colonists, to form 
a fresh settlemeut on the Delaware. He passed Cape Henlo- 
pen, and built a small fort on the southern shore, at a place 
which he called Hoeren-kill, but which afterwards was named, 
by Penn, Lewistown — a name which it still retains. Having 
planted his colony, and landed his stock and supplies, he re- 
turned to Holland, leaving one Gillis Osset in command. MeyJ 
with his people, had abandoned Fort Nassau some time before. 

The new settlement had but a brief existence, and owed its 
destruction to an incident singular enough. The Dutch, by 
way of taking formal possession of the country, had erected a 
pillar, to which was affixed a piece of tin, inscribed with the 
arms of Holland. This tinsel bit of heraldry, ere long, was 
appropriated by an Indian chief, who, unconscious of its high 
import, converted it into tobacco-pipes for his private smok- 
ing. At this insult, as he deemed it, to "their High Mighti- 
nesses, the States General," Osset became ridiculously enraged. 
Vindication of outraged dignity is generally vehement, in 
proportion to the paucity of the aggrieved atti'ibute, and the 
Dutch commander, ■\^'ith strange infatuation, refused to be satis- 



470 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

fied with all the excuses and reparation which the Indians 
could offer. Seeing him thus unappeasable, and probably sup- 
posing the crime to be of some heinous religious nature, they 
finally cut off the head of the offending chief, and brought it, a 
grisly token of submission, to the fort. 

Osset stood aghast at the consequences of his obstinate sulk- 
iness, and told the Indians that they should only have brought 
the culprit before him for reproval. But the mischief had 
been done, and the friends and relations of the murdered 
chief resolved on a sweeping and terrible revenge. All was 
contrived with savage artifice and secresy. The colonists 
were mostly engaged in tillage, and only a few remained in 
the fort. These were massacred by some warriors who entered 
under pretence of selling beaver-skins. The Indians then 
walked slowly to those at work in the fields, and fell to con- 
versing in a friendly manner. Not the slightest suspicion was 
awakened, until, at a given signal, the savages fell on them, 
and butchered them to a man. The entire colony, consisting 
of thirty-four men, perished at a blow. 

In December, De Vriez returned from Holland, and the 
utter silence of the dwellings forewarned him of misfortune. 
Bones and skulls lay bleaching on the shore. The Indians, 
with whom he was soon in friendly intercourse, informed him, 
with all the circumstances, of the murder of his countrymen. 
He then went to Virginia for supplies, and was received in a 
friendly manner, but after some unprofitable attempts at whale- 
fishing, sailed, with all his people, for Manhattan, and thence 
to Holland. 

Minuit had been recalled, and Wouter Yan Twiller, in 1638, 
had been appointed in his place. This governor erected more 
buildings, and the settlement of Fort Amsterdam continued 
steadily to increase. Wind-mills were set up, and negro slaves 
imported — both much to the astonishment of the Indians, who 
supposed the former to be monsters pressed into the service 
of the whites to perform the office of mastication, and regarded 
the second as "a breed of devils." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 471 

The deposed governor, on his return to Europe, entered the 
service of Christina, queen of Sweden; and her sagacious 
minister Oxenstiern readily Hstened to his scheme for plant- 
ing a Swedish colony on the shores of America. Accord- 
ingly, about the year 1633, an expedition was dispatched, 
which erected a fort, called, after the queen, Christina, on the 
Delaware, near the present site of Wilmington. 

William Kieft, in 1638, succeeded Van T wilier as governor 
of the New Netherlands. Jealous of the encroachments of the 
eastern English, he issued an order, forbidding them to trade 
at the fort of Good Hope, a small post, occupied by the Dutch, 
where the city of Hartford now stands. Two years after- 
wards, he forcibly broke up a settlement which they had made 
on the territory of Long Island, claimed by his government. 
The spirit of rivalry increased, and in 16-13, the eastern colo- 
nies, now greatly superior in numbers to the Dutch, entered 
into a general league against them. To the other difficulties 
of the new governor, was superadded hostility with the In- 
dians; and in a fierce battle fought with them on the borders 
of Connecticut, the Dutch, with all their bravery and disci- 
pline, gained only the barren name of a victory. 

To Kieft, in 1647, succeeded Peter Stuyvesant, the last and 
most famous of the Dutch governors. His memory, immor- 
talized by the more comic muse of Irving, always presents 
itself in the shape of a weather-tanned, fierce-looking, silver- 
legged old warrior, with an air of obstinate determination 
quite sufficient to justify his popular soubriquet of Hardkoppig 
Plt:t^ or Peter the Headstrong. He became speedily embroiled 
with all his neighbors; but justice must admit that the right was 
on his side — that the Dutch were the aggrieved party — and 
that in the contests which troubled his administration, he dis- 
played all the qualities of a gallant soldier, an energetic magis- 
trate, and a faithful servant to his employers. 

His first trouble was with the Swedes. Fort Casimir, 
erected by the Dutch, where Newcastle now stands, was a 
BO'ircc of constant uneasiness to that colony; and Risingh, the-. 



472 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Swedish governor, under pretence of a friendly visit, finally 
took it by surprise, and made spoil of all the property which 
it protected. To avenge this injury, Stsyvesant seized a ves- 
sel of the enemy which came within his reach, and made 
active preparation for further reprisal. With a sufficient force, 
he sailed up the Delaware and retook Fort Casimir, and then, 
flushed with success, laid siege to Fort Christina itself Ri- 
singh was compelled to surrender, and such of his people as 
refused to own the authority of the states-general, were sent 
to Holland, and thence to Sweden. Leaving one of his of- 
ficers as lieutenant-governor over the newly-acquired terri- 
tory, the doughty Stuyvesant returned in triumph to New 
Amsterdam. 

His disagreement with the eastern colonies was, for a time, 
settled by a treaty, confirming to the Dutch their station on 
the Connecticut, and admitting the English to a share of Long 
Island. But, as the importance of the trans-Atlantic posses- 
sions became more evident, these questions of priority of settle- 
ment were merged in the more decisive contest between the 
arrogant assumption of the British crown, and the just but 
feebly defended rights of the states-general. There could 
hardly be a more untenable claim than that advanced by Eng- 
land to the possession of the little settlements which the Dutch, 
with such patient and persevering industry, had reclaimed 
from the wilderness. 

The whole country which they occupied had been unques- 
tionably first explored by Hudson, sailing in the service 
of the Dutch East India Company, and had immediately after- 
wards been settled by Hollanders in advance of any other 
nation. Purchase and treaty with the natives had added con- 
firmation to their title. These perfectly unassailable grounds of 
possession the English attempted to invade, by claiming that 
Hudson was an Englishman, whose discovery must therefore 
enure to the benefit of his own country, and that Cabot, sailing 
by these coasts an hundred and fifty years before, had thus 
•secured the right to the whole to those who employed him. 







CHJIRLF.S II. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 473 

This proposition, it is needless to saj, was of a self-stultifying 
nature, for if Hudson was an Englishman, Cabot was a Vene- 
tian, and according to this rule, the whole country must belong 
to the little republic of Venice. Moreover, there was no evi- 
dence that Cabot had ever even seen the inlets and recesses 
which the Dutch had selected for the site of their settlements. 
The old maxim, however, that "might makes right," of such 
universal application in inter-national polity, was not long in 
receiving a fresh illustration, Charles II., soon after his acces- 
sion to the throne of England, made a grant to his brother, 
the duke of York and Albany, (afterwards James II.) confer- 
ring on him an extensive tract of land in North America, the 
boundaries of which were carefully arranged, so as to include 
all territories settled by the Dutch. To carry into effect this 
very liberal donation, a fleet was dispatched, conveying three 
hundred soldiers, under Colonel Eichard Nichols, which, in 
the year 1664, came to anchor before Manhattan. To the 
demand of the governor as to the purport of this armament, 
the British commander replied by a summons to surrender the 
town — offering fall protection in property and civil rights to 
all who would submit, and threatening an immediate attack 
in case of non-compliance. The unfortunate governor, desti- 
tute of a sufScient force to repel the invasion, and assailed on 
all sides by the clamorous fears of the citizens, knew not what 
course to pursue. To add to his vexation and discomfiture, 
a letter came from Winthrop, the governor of Connecticut, 
advising him, with affectionate intermeddling, to surrender 
immediately. The council, who were anxious to relieve their 
minds by giving up at once, demanded to see this letter; 
but the irritated old governor tore it in pieces before their 
faces. By dint of sheer personal obstinacy, he held out for 
several days, but was finally compelled, by superior force, to 
surrender, on honorable conditions. Even after the articles 
were drawn up, he kept the whole city in suspense for two 
days, by refusing to sign them. He finally put his name to 
the detested document, and then retired in high dudgeon to 



474 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

his country-seat, in the Bomverij, where, it is said, he passed 
the remainder of his days. 

The victors took undisturbed possession of the town, to 
which, in honor of the duke, they gave the name of New 
York. Fort Orange, on the Hudson, was called Albany, in 
commemoration of his second title. The Dutch and Swedes 
on the Delaware were also compelled to deliver up their forts ; 
and on the division of the New Netherlands, the southern por- 
tion received the name of New Jersey, from the island of that 
name, in compliment to the family of Cartaret, one of the 
commanders of the expedition. In 1673, an expedition dis- 
patched by the Dutch succeeded in regaining possession of 
New York; but it remained in the hands of its founders only 
for a brief period, being again ceded to England, by treaty, in 
the following year. 



THE SETTLEMENTOF NEW ENGLAI^D. 



CHAPTER I. 

PECULIARITY OF THE PURITAN SETTLEMENT PERSECUTION OF NON-CON- 
FORMISTS IN ENGLAND THEIR RETREAT INTO HOLLAND RESOLU- 
TION TO SEEK A NEW HOME VOYAGE TO AMERICA ARRIVAL AT 

CAPE COD INSTITUTION OF A REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. 

Lsr the early history of New England, it may be remarked, 
we do not find, as in that of nearly all other European settle- 
ments, the name of any one man greath* conspicuous above 
his companions, or exclusively identified with the foundation 
of the commonwealth. The names of Cortes and Pizarro, of 
Champlain and Smith and Penn, are each inseparably associ- 
ated with the history of the countries whose destinies, for 
good or evil, they had so large a share in shaping; while, in 
the less ambitious annals of Puritan coloni2:ation, the memo- 
ries of Carver, Bradford, and Winslow — of Endicott and Win- 
throp — of Standish, Mason, and Church, with those of many 
other associate worthies, are fused and blended with the com- 
mon history of the country. 

The cause of this distinction is not difficult to define. Prin- 
ciple, rather than personal ambition, whether of the more 
selfish or more generous species, was the main sprino- and 
prompting motive of the actors who figured in these once- 
neglected scenes of enterprise; and all thought of private 
advancement or renown was, for the time, merged in a spirit 
of community, such as only the strong prompting of religious 
enthusiasm can maintain. 



476 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

The severe and arbitrary enactments for the persecution of 
Non-conformists, passed in the reign of EHzabeth, were, under 
the rule of her foohsh and tyrannical successor, enforced to an 
extreme, which naturally led the victims to cast their eyes for 
refuge beyond the four seas that girded Britain. Accord- 
ingly, in 1608, the congregation of John Kobinson, an emi- 
nent divine of the Independent Church, after several unsuc- 
cessful attempts, managed, with their pastor, to quit England 
by stealth, and found an asylum in Holland. Protected by 
the liberality of that republic, they settled at Leyden, and by 
their morality and good conduct, gained universal respect 
from the citizens. "These English," said the magistrates, 
"have lived amongst us ten years, and yet we never had any 
suit or accusation against any of them." At the end of eleven 
years they numbered three hundred communicants. Their 
church-government was absolutely independent, and their 
creed avowed that ecclesiastical censure should involve no 
temporal penalty — a liberal provision, which, in effect, was 
afterwards unhappily abrogated. 

Difficulty in obtaining subsistence, and fear lest the strict- 
ness of their faith or the purity of their children should be 
impaired by the too easy habits of the land, at length induced 
the emigrants to look about them for a permanent home, 
even if it were to be found only on the shores of some untrod- 
den wilderness. After various propositions, the better opinion 
appeared to be that they should seek "some of those unpeo- 
pled countries of America, which are fruitful and fit for habit- 
ation, being devoid of all civil inhabitants, where there are 
only salvage and brutish people, which range up and down 
little otherwise than the wild beasts." To this proposal, the 
more timid objected a thousand dangers and difficulties, espe- 
cially from the cruelty of the savages, whose horrible treat- 
ment of their prisoners was enough to strike any heart with 
dread. To these objections "It was answered," (with manly 
spirit,) "that all great and honorable actions were accompanied 
with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and over- 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 477 

corne witli answerable courages. It was granted the dangers 
were great, but not desperate, and the difficulties were many, 
but not invincible. It might be that some of the things feared 
might never befall them; others, bj providence, care, and 
the use of good means, might in a great measure be prevented ; 
and all of them, through the help of God, by fortitude and 
patience, might either be borne or overcome."* 

Several da^^s were passed in fasting and humiliation, and it 
was finally resolved that the little congregation should migrate 
to some uninhabited part of that vast district in America, then 
known by the name of Virginia. Through the tolerance of 
Archbishop Abbot, the consent of the bigoted James was 
obtained to a tacit connivance at their plan; and the permis- 
sion to settle there was procured on hard and exorbitant terms 
from the Virginia company. On the 21st of July, 1620, a 
considerable portion of the church, accompanied by many of 
their friends, repaired to Delft Haven, a port south of Ley den, 
where the Speedwell, a little vessel of sixty tons, lay waiting 
to receive them. "So they left that pleasant and goodly city, 
which had been their resting place near twelve years. But 
they knew they were PILGRIMS, and looked not much on 
those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest 
country, and quieted their spirits." 

"The next day, the wind being fair, they went on board, 
and their friends with them; when truly doleful was the sight 
of that sad and mournful parting; to see what sighs, and sobs, 
and prayers, did sound amongst them; what tears did gush 
from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each other's heart ; 
that sundry of the Dutch strangers, that stood on the quay aa 
spectators, could not refrain from tears." Their pastor, who, 
with a portion of his flock, remained behind, "falling down 
on liis knees, and they all with him, with watery cheeks com- 
mended them, with most fervent prayers, to the Lord and his 
blessing; and then, with mutual embraces and many tears, they 

* Hislnry of Plymovth Colony, written by William Bradford, its second 
governor, one of the original passengers in the May-Flower. 



478 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

took their leaves of one another, which proved to be their last 
leave to many of them."* 

At South Hampton, they were joined by the May-Flower, 
a vessel of an hundred and eighty tons, and on the 5th of 
August, 1620, both vessels, carrying an hundred and twenty 
passengers, sailed from that port for America. A leak in the 
Speedwell compelled them to put into Dartmouth, whence, on 
the 21st, they again took their departure. After sailing a hun- 
dred leagues, the same cause again compelled them to put back 
to Plymouth, where she was condemned as unseaworthy, and 
about twenty of the passengers disembarked. The remainder, 
one hundred and one in number, in the May-Flower, on the 
6th of September, bade their final farewell to the shores of 
England. 

After some duration of prosperous winds, foul weather set 
in, with "many contrary winds, and fierce storms, with which 
their sbi[) was shrewdly shaken." She began to leak, and one 
of the main beams amidships bent and cracked. After a con- 
sultation, it was resolved to hold on, " and by a screw the said 
beam was brought into his place again. And so," continues 
the old pilgrim, "after many boisterous storms, in which they 
could make no sail, but were forced to lie at hull for many 
days together, after long beating at sea, they fell in with the 
land called Cape Cod; the which being made, and certainly 
known to be it, they were not a little joyful." This was on 
the 9th of November, more than two months having been 
spent in the tempestuous voyage. 

On the following day, the May-Flower doubled the extrem- 
ity of the Cape, and anchored in a secure harbor, on which 
Provincetown is now situated. Here the master of the vessel, 
alarmed at the low state of provision, and, (it is said) influ- 
enced by the jealousy of the Dutch, insisted that his passen- 
gers should make a speedy landing. They resolved' to com- 
ply; but being without the limits of the Virginia company, 
were destitute of any legal rule for their government; and 

* Bradford. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 479 

accordingly, on the following day, (November llth,) consti- 
tuted themselves as a body politic, professing allegiance to the 
king, but otherwise instituting a completely-republicon form 
of government. The requisite document was signed by all 
the company. 

" This brief, and comprehensive, and simple instrument," 
says Mr. Baylies, "established a most important principle — a 
principle which is the foundation of all the democratic institu- 
tions of America, and is the basis of the republic; and, how- 
ever it may be expanded and complicated in our various 
constitutions — however unequally power may be distributed 
in the different branches of our various governments, has 
imparted to each its strongest and most striking characteristics. 

"Many philbsophers have since appeared, who have in 
labored treatises endeavored to prove the doctrine that the 
rights of man are inalienable, and nations have bled to defend 
and enforce them ; yet, in this dark age, the age of despotism 
and superstition, when no tongue dared to assert, and no pen 
to write this bold and novel doctrine — a doctrine which was 
then as much at defiance with common opinion as with actual 
power, of which the monarch was then held to be the sole 
fountain, and the theory was universal, that all popular rights 
were granted by the crown, in this remote wilderness, among 
a small and unknown band of wandering outcasts, the princi- 
ple that the will of the majority of the jpeople shall govern^ was 
first conceived and first practically exemplified. 



480 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND THINNED BY PESTILENCE THE PE- 

QUOTS, NARRAGANSETTS, POKANOKETS, MASSACHUSETTS, ETC. 

THEIR WAY OF LIFE SUPERSTITION OF THE COLONISTS 

MALIGNITY OF THEIR HISTORIANS. 

Not long before the arrival of ttie Pilgrims, a wide-spread 
and desolating pestilence had swept the land. Vast numbers 
of the Indians had perished, and several of the most powerful 
tribes of New England were reduced to a mere remnant. As 
it happened, the ravages of this disease had been most fatal 
in the neighborhood where thej chanced to form their settle- 
ment; and to this cause must principally be ascribed the pre- 
servation of the little colony, during the period of its weakest 
and most disastrous condition. 

Several great and formidable nations, however, were still 
existing. Of these, the Pequots, inhabiting eastern Connecti- 
cut, was the strongest and most terrible. It numbered, says 
Roger Williams, thirty thousand souls, and was infamous for 
the cruelties inflicted on its captives. Its chief stronghold 
was on a commanding eminence in Groton, 

The Narragansetts, a powerful tribe, inhabiting what was 
afterwards the colony of Rliode Island, are said to have num- 
bered five thousand warriors. They were a noble and mag- 
nanimous race, frequently at warfare with their neighbors, the 
Pequots and Pokanokets. 

This latter confederacy included a great variety of smaller 
tribes, among which were the Wampanoags, inhabiting the 
upper regions of Narragansett Bay — a people small in num- 
ber, but memorable for the friendship of their chief, Massasoit, 
to the English, and, in after years, for the deadly hostility of 
his son, the famous Metacomet (King Philip). The Pocassets, 
Saconets, and many other tribes, scattered over a wide extent 
of country, were all, at the time of the landing, subordinate 
to the first-named chieftain. Before the pestilence, they could 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 481 

raise three thousand warriors; but after its ravages, ouly five 
hundred. 

These tribes were in alliance with the Massachusetts, dwell- 
ing around the bay of that name, who had formerly been of 
equal force, but who at this time, from the same cause, had 
been thinned to a mere remnant. They now acknowledged 
the supremacy of Massasoit. 

The Pawtuckets, dwelling north of these last, had also num- 
bered three thousand men, before their almost complete exter- 
mination by the pestilence. A few scattered hordes of Nip- 
mucks, subordinate and tributary to the more powerful tribes, 
completes the list of the principal general divisions of the 
aborigines. The Nehanticks, Podunks, and a great number 
of smaller tribes, mostly dwelling in the westward, are not 
included in this classification. Connecticut is said to have 
been the most thickly peopled with Indian inhabitants of any 
state settled by the English. 

Except the strong nations of the Narragansetts and Pequots, 
all these people were tributary to the Mohawks, the most ancient 
and fiercest of the celebrated Five Nations. "Two old Mo- 
hawks," says Dr. Trumbull, "every year or two might be seen 
issuing their orders and collecting their tribute, ^\^ith as much 
authority and haughtiness as a Eoman Dictator." Any neglect 
or disobedience of their commands was punished in the most 
sanguinary manner — the avenging Mohawks pursuing their 
victims into the very houses of the English, yelHng, " We are 
come, we are come to suck your blood!" and sometimes slay- 
ing them on the very hearth-stone. But, with a most rigid 
observance of the settled poUcy of their league, they never 
offered the slightest injury to the persons or property of the 
English. 

The habits and customs of these New England tribes were, 
in the main, similar to those which characterized nearly all 
the races dwelling on the eastern sea-board. They were fierce 
and implacable in warfare, but kindly and loving in their own 
families and associations. Their constant remembrance and 
31 



482 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

plaintive lamentation of the dead, seem to liave moved llic 
hearts, even of observant strangers. "Night and morning," 
sajs Winslow, "they perform this duty, many days after 
the burial, in a most doleful manner, insomuch as, though it 
be ordinary and the note musical, which they take one from 
another and all together, yet it will draw tears from their eyes 
and almost from ours also." 

They won a precarious subsistence by the chase, and a more 
assured one by the cultivation of maize and other vegetables, 
indigenous to the soil; while those on the coast enjoyed the 
additional resource of obtaining clams, quahogs, and fish. 
Their principal luxury, until the introduction of spirits, was 
smoking; and their tobacco, we are assured, was "very strong 
and pleasant." "The men," says Winslow, "take much to- 
bacco; but for boys so to do, they account it odious" — an 
opinion equally prevalent in more civilized communities. 



It was now just a century since the Conquest of Mexico, 
by Cortes, had first brought the races of Europe into direct 
collision with those of the Western Continent. In that inter- 
val, the Reformation had arisen, had spread, and had produced 
perhaps its finest fruit in the little band of self-devoted exiles, 
who sought in the wilderness a foothold for civil and religious 
freedom. As a matter of course, the world was more enlight- 
ened ; yet, strange to say, hardly a step had yet been taken in 
the direction of the fairest and noblest result to which enlight- 
enment can tend — the acknowledgment of the universal hu- 
manity and brotherhood of all mankind. 

Our pious forefathers, like the Spaniards of the century 
before, still regarded the dwellers of the New World as the 
direct offspring or worshippers of Satan, and as enjoying all the 
familiarity to which his most favorite proteges could be enti- 
tled. Nothing is more strange than to read the opinions and 
conclusions on this subject of the men of that age — men other- 
wise just, sagacious, and, for their day, liberal in the extreme. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 483 

Even William Hubbard, the learned and reverend historian 
of New England, writing but a few years before the com- 
raencement of the eighteenth century, sums up the hypotheses 
concerning the origin of the Indians with the following lucid 
and confident conclusion: "Mr. Mede's opinion about the 
passage of the natives into this remote region, carryes the 
greatest probability of truth with it; of whose conjecture it 
may be said, in a sense, as sometimes of Achithopell's counsell 
in those dayes, that itt was as the oracle of God. His conceitt 
is, that when the devill was putt out of his throne in the other 
part of the world, and that the mouth of all his oracles was 
stopt in Europe, Asia, and Africa, hee seduced a company of 
silly wretches to follow his conduct," (guidance) "into this 
unknowne part of the world, where hee might lye hid and not 
be disturbed in the idolatrous and abominable, or rather dia- 
bolicall service hee expected from those his followers; for 
here are noe foote stepes of any religion before the English 
came, but meerely diabolicall, * * * and so uncouth, as 
if it were framed and devised by the devill himselfe, and is 
transacted by them they used to call pawwowes, by some 
kinde of familiarity with Satan, and to whom they used to 
resort for counsell in all kinde of evills, both corporall and 
civill." 

If such was the deliberate opinion of a grave, learned, and 
"painfull" historian, after the lapse of sixty years had given 
opportunity for charitable reflection, we can hardly expect that 
the first comers should have been free from a belief in this Sa- 
tanic agency, or disinclined to take advantage of the doctrine 
in justification of their conduct toward the savages. 

Governor Winslow, one of the most famous of the original 
Pilgrims, in his "Good News from New England," dwells on 
this subject with a pertinacity of reiteration which verges on 
the ludicrous. "Another power they worship," he says, 
"whom they call Hohhamoch^ and to the northward of us. Hob- 
hamoqui; this, as far as we can conceive, is the devil, * * 
This Hobbamock appears in sundry forms unto them, as in 



484 NOKTII AND SOUTJI AMKiiICA, 

the sliapc of a man, a deer, a fawn, an eagle, &c., but most 
ordinarily a snake. He appears not to all, but the chiefest 
and most judicious amongst them; though all of them strive 
to attain to that hellish height of honor. * * The panieses 
are men of great courage and wisdom, and to those also the devil 
appeareth more familiarly than to others, and, as we conceive, 
maketh covenant with them to preserve them from death by 
wounds with arrows, knives, hatchets, &c. * * And to the 
end that they may have store of these, they train up the most 
forward and likehest boys, from their childhood, in great hard- 
ness, and make them abstain from dainty meat, observing 
divers orders prescribed, to the end that when they are of age, 
the devil may appear to them. * * Also they beat their 
shins with sticks, and cause them to run through bushes, 
stumps, and brambles, to make them hardy and acceptable to 
the devil, that in time he may appear unto them." 

To opinions such as these — the natural result of prejudice 
and misinformation — must doubtless be attributed a large 
measure of that cruel and uncharitable spirit, which dictated 
not only the wrongs and massacres committed on the natives, 
but the still more unpleasing exultation over their sufferings 
and extermination, which glows with an infernal light in the 
])ages of the chroniclers of the day, and most especially in 
those of the reverend historians, Hubbard and Mather. 

Continually on the alert against the assaults of the infernal 
eneni}^, our fathers saw his finger in witchcraft, in Indian war- 
fare, and many another annoyance, the result of natural causes. 
Anger and hatred were thus aroused — hatred indeed of an 
imaginary foe, but still hatred, bitter, personal, and vindictive 
to a degree which we can hardly conceive, and which founil 
its gratification in vengeance on the supposed agents of the 
invisible Tormentor. 

It could hardly, perhaps, be expected, that men engaged in 
the deadly terrors of savage warfare, should have much sym- 
pathy for their vanquished enemies — especially when regarded 
as children of the devil ; yet the daring ferocity of the Indian- 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 485 

fighters, occasionally relieved by a touch of good feeling and 
humanity, is far more agreeable to contemplate than the ven- 
omous spirit exhibited by the honorable and reverend record- 
ers of their deeds, whose minds, imbued with the wretched 
notion of Satanic agency, seem actually to revel in the tor- 
ment, destruction, and assured damnation of their unfortunate 
foes. In this particular, we perceive a superstition strangely 
variant from that of the Spaniard, who, while slaying and 
tormenting the miserable bodies of the aborigines, was ever 
anxious, even at the stake or the gallows, that their souls 
should escape the eternal penalty, and be admitted to the same 
heaven which he expected to enjoy in person. 



CHAPTER III. 

DREARY ASPECT OF NEW ENGLAND THE COUNTRY EXPLORED VOYAGE 

TO PLYMOUTH HARBOR FIGHT WITH THE INDIANS THE LANDING 

BUILDING OF HOUSES SUFFERINGS AND GREAT MORTALITY 

LIONS IN NEW ENGLAND. 

The Pilgrims, their constitution adopted, unanimously 
elected as their governor Mr. John Carver, a gentleman of 
great worth and most amiable character, and one of the prin- 
cipal promoters of the expedition. (Mr. William Brewster, 
their ruling elder, who conducted their devotions, was the 
only person of ecclesiastical title among the company.) They 
then, at the urgent solicitations of the master of the vessel, 
busied themselves to find a place for immediate settlement. 
Nothing could have looked more desolate or uninviting than 
the aspect of the country — "the withered grass on the surface 
of the cold earth," and the forests already stripped by the 
frosts of the approaching winter, "Which way soever," says 
one of them, with touching eloquence, "they turned their 
eyes, (save upward to the heaven,) they could have little solace 



486 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

or content in respect of any outward objects. For summer 
being done, all things stand for tliem to look upon with a 
weather-beaten face; and the whole country being full of 
woods and thickets, represented a wild and salvage hue. If 
they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which 
they had passed, and was now as a main bar and gulf to sep- 
arate them from all the civil parts of the world. * * * 
May and ought not the children of these fathers rightly to 
say, 'Our fathers were Englishmen, which came over this great 
ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness. But they 
cried unto the Lord, and he heard their voice, and looked on 
their adversity,' And let them therefore praise the Lord, 
because he is good, and his mercies endure for ever." 

On Wednesday, November 15th, sixteen volunteers, under 
command of Captain Miles Standish, were set ashore. Their 
leader was the only soldier in the whole company of adven- 
turers. He had been bred to arms, and had served in the 
wars of Holland — a man short in stature, but of great strength 
and activity, and of a fiery and determined courage. They 
saw Indians in the distance, whom they followed for ten miles, 
but could not overtake them. Overcome with thirst and 
fatigue, they finally halted at a spring, where, says one of 
them, "we sat us down and drunk our first New England 
water, with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all 
our lives." 

They found an Indian grave, containing many simple ar- 
ticles, which they carefully replaced, "because," says the nar- 
rator, "we thought it would be odious unto them to ransack 
their sepulchres." With less scruple, they appropriated what 
they could carry from a subterranean store-house, in which 
was "a fine great new basket, full of very fair corn of this 
\'ear, with some six and thirty goodly ears of corn, some yel- 
low, and some red, and others mixed with blue, which was a 
very goodly sight." Eeparation, six months afterwards, was 
made to the owners, and it is said that the small sup])lv of 
giain thus questionably obtained, being saved for seed, after- 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 487 

wards preserved the colony from starvation. The next day 
they returned, with their booty, to the ship. 

Other expeditions, both by water and land, were undertaken, 
and fresh deposits of corn and the simple wealth of the In- 
dians were found, and unjustly appropriated. Two wigwams 
v.'ere discovered and ransacked. " So'ine of the best tluufj.s we 
toolc,^^ says the narrator — though with the saving resolve to 
make restitution to the owners when they could be found. A 
consultation was now held, concerning the place of settlement, 
and many thought that, for the sake of fishing* and other 
advantages, it would be best to fix their abode on Cape Cod ; 
l>ut on the suggestion of the pilot that there was a good har- 
bor on the west side of the bay, it was concluded to examine 
it. On the 6th of December, Governor Carver, with Bradford, 
AVinslow, Standish, and fourteen others, embarked for that 
purpose in the shallop, though the cold was so intense that the 
spray, falling on their clothes, was- instantly turned to ice, 
"and made them many times like coats of iron." Following 
the coast southward, they sailed along it for two days, and 
on the morning of the 8th, while at prayers on shore, were 
attacked by a party of Indians. Arrows and musketry were 
discharged for some time, but no one seems to have been seri- 
ously hurt, and at last the assailants retreated. "The cry of 
our enemies," says one of the party, "was dreadful. Their 

* "Thirdly, Cape Cod was like to be a pkice of go(»d fishing; for we siiw 
daily great whales of the best kind for oil .'ind bone, come close aboard our 
ship, and in fair weather swim and piny aljoiit iis; there was once one, wlioii 
the sun shone warm, came and lay above water, as if she had been dcsad, for 
a good while together, within half a musket siiot of the ship, at which two 
were prepared to shoot, to see whether she would stir or no: he that gave 
fire first, his musket flew in pieces: both stock and barrel; yet thanks be to 
God, neither he nor any man else was hurt with it, though many were there 
about; but when the whale saw her time, she gave a snufT and away." — 
Mauri's Relation. 

Fish, it would appear, in early times, were altogether too plentiful in this 
neighborhood; for, says one of the companions of Gosnold, "in a short time 
we so pestered our ship with cod fish, that we had to throw them overboard." 



488 XORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

note was after tliis manner, ' Woach, woach^ ha ha hach ivoach^^^ 
— easily recognizable as the war-whoop, even at the present 
day. 

They then proceeded, and with a fair wind sailed all day 
rapidly along the coast. Towards night it came on to blow ; 
the rudder broke from its hinges; and with great ado they 
were fain to scud before it, steering with oars. "The seas 
were grown so great that we were much troubled, and in great 
danger; and night grew on. Anon, Master Coppin bade us 
be of good cheer, he saw the harbour. As we drew near, 
the gale being stiff, and we bearing great sail to get in, split 
our mast into three pieces, and were like to have cast away 
our shallop. Yet, by God's mercy, recovering ourselves, we 
had the flood with us, and struck into the harbour." Such 
was the first entrance of the Pilgrims into Plymouth harbour, 
already surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. 

They returned to Cape Cod with a favorable report, and on 
the 16th, the ship, with all her company, except four, who 
had died at the Cape, entered Plymouth harbor. A site was 
selected for the town, and on the 22d of December, 1620, a 
day for ever memorable in the annals of America, the little 
band of Pilgrims landed on that rock, which, like the Stone 
of Mecca, is now the object of enthusiastic pilgrimage to their 
descendants. 

Timber was cut, and houses, nineteen in number, were 
erected with all possible dispatch : but so great were the suf- 
ferings of these unfortunate people from cold, exposure, and 
privation, that, before the end of February, twenty-five more 
had perished. Only six or seven were sufficiently strong to 
go out, and to wait upon the sick. Two of their number, 
being lost, in bitter cold weather, were almost frozen to death, 
and climbed into a tree, to avoid, as they supposed, "two lions, 
roaring exceedingly for a long time together, and a third that 
they thought was very near them." 

Such errors in natural history Avere long current among the 
early planters of America. "I will not say," says Mr. Wood, 




I.VTKR rii.H- OF fi.iMOaKr ftlTH THK ril.OKI.Ms. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 48S(, 

("New England's Prospect,") "that I ever saw any myself, but 
some affirm that they have seen a lion at Cape Ann, which is 
not above ten leagues from Boston. Some likewise, being lost 
in the woods, have heard such terrible roarings, as have made 
them much aghast ; which must be either devils or lions, there 
being no other creatures which use to roar, saving bears, which 
have not such a terrible kind of roaring." 

"Sometimes," says Master Heriot, "the Salvages will kill a 
Lyon and eate him." 



CHAPTER IV. 

SAMOSET "welcome, ENGLISHMEN " VISIT FROM MASSASOIT TREATY 

OF FRIENDSHIP GREAT MORTALITY AMONG THE SETTLERS DEATH 

OF GOVERNOR CARVER ELECTION OF BRADFORD FIRST DUEL 

IN NEW ENGLAND VISIT TO MASSASOIT lYANOUGH 

TOUCHING INCIDENT CHALLENGE FROM CANONICUS 

HIS ALARM FORTIFICATION OF PLYMOUTH. 

Hitherto, a distant appearance of small parties of savages 
was all that the English had seen of their aboriginal neigh- 
bors; but on the 16th of March, 1621, a solitary Indian entered 
the settlement. "He very boldly came all alone, and along 
the houses straiglit to the rendezvous; where we intercepted 
him, not suffering him to go in, as undoubtedly he would, out 
-of his boldness." He was a sagamore, or petty chief, called 
Samoset, and he saluted the settlers in the ever-memorable 
words, "Welcome, Englishmen!" — which, with other scraps of 
the language, he had picked up from the traders at Manhegin. 
The next day he was dismissed, but soon returned with five 
others, bringing beaver-skins for traffic, and returning tools 
which had been lost or stolen in the woods. "They did eat 
liberally of our English victuals. They made semblance unto 
us of friendship and amity. They sang and danced after tlieir 
manner, like antics." 



490 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

On the 22d, lie again came, bringing -with him Squanto, the 
only surviving native of Patuxet (the country about Ply- 
mouth). This Indian was one of those who had been kid- 
napped by "that wicked varlet, Hunt;" he had lived in Lon- 
don, and had acquired a good deal of English. From these 
visitors, the whites learned that the great sachem, Massasoit, 
and many of his people, were close at hand. 

With sixty men, he appeared on the hill above Plymoutli, 
and Edward Winslow was dispatched to him, with the inter- 
preters. "We sent to the king," says the narrative, "a pair 
of knives, with a copper chain and a jewel at it. To Quade- 
quina" (his brother) "we sent likewise a knife, and a jewel to 
hang in his ear, and withal a pot of strong water" (liquor). 
A friendly message was explained to him, and, leaving Winslow 
as a hostage with his people, the chief, followed by twenty 
men, came down and entered one of the houses, where a green 
rug and some cushions were provided for his honorable recep- 
tion. The governor, with drum and trumpet, also came in. 
"After salutations, our governor kissing his hand, the king 
kissed him, and so they sat down. The governor called for 
some strong water and drunk to him; and he drunk a great 
draught, that made him sweat all the while after." Eefresh- 
ments being partaken of, a treaty of amity and mutual alliance 
was made — a treaty faithfully observed by both parties for 
more than half a century. At the same time, (perhaps a little 
too much softened by the genial draught which he had so vig- 
orously imbibed,) the sachem, it is said, "acknowledged him- 
self content to become the subject of our sovereign lord, the 
king aforesaid, his heirs and successors; and gave unto them 
all the lands adjacent, to them and to their heirs for ever." 

"All which," says a spectator, "the king seemed to like 
well, and it was applauded of his followers. All the while he 
sat by the governor, he trembled with fear " (perhaps agitation 
or surprise). "In his person, he is a very lusty man, in his 
best years, an able body, grave of countenance, and spare of 
speech; in his attire, little or nothing diflcring from the rest 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 491 

of liis followers, only in a great chain of white bone beads 
about his neck; and at it, behind his neck, hangs a little bag 
of tobacco, which he drank, and gave us to drink" (^. e. 
smoke). "His face was painted of a sad red like murrey, and 
oiled, both head and face, that he looked greasily. All his 
followers were likewise in their faces, in part or whole, painted; 
some black, some yellow, some red, and some white; some 
with crosses, and other antic works; some had skins on them, 
and some naked ; all tall strong men in appearance." 

The Indians retired with much appearance of friendship 
and good- will, while Squanto and Samoset remained to instruct 
the English in fishing and in the agriculture of the country. 
Twenty acres of corn were planted. During March, thirteen 
more of the colonists died, leaving but little more than half 
of the original number surviving. Half of the crew of the 
^f ay-Flower were also dead ; and, with the remainder, on the 
5th of April, she sailed for England. The next day died the 
good governor, who, it would seem, had met with a stroke of 
the sun, while working in the fields at noon-day, a little time 
before. His loss occasioned the death of his wife, and left the 
colonists overwhelmed with grief "His care and pains were 
so great for the common good, as therewith, it is thought, he 
oppressed himself, and shortened his days." Could a more 
honorable epitaph be written! 

William Bradford, a man only thirty-two years of age, but 
one of the most ardent and zealous upholders of the settlement, 
was elected in his place. Under the new governor took place 
the first punishment inflicted in New England. The crime, 
according to the record, (June 18th,) was "a challenge at 
single combat, with sword and dagger, between Edward Doty 
and Edward Leister, servants of Mr. Hopkins. Both being 
wounded, the one in the hand, the other in the thigh, they are 
adjudged by the whole company to have their head and feet 
tied together, and so to lie for twenty-four hours, without meat 
or drink ; which is begun to be inflicted, but within an hour, 
because of their great pains, at their own and their master's 



492 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

humble request, upon promise of better carriage, tbey are 
released by tlie governor." 

In July, 1621, Winslow and Hopkins went on a visit of 
observation to Massasoit, They passed through many lands 
cleared and well adapted to cultivation, but devoid of inhab- 
itants. These places, they were told, had been depopulated 
by the pestilence — an account confirmed by the sight of num- 
erous skeletons yet bleaching on the ground. They found the 
chief and his people friendly and amiable, but ill-prepared to 
entertain any visitors — two fish, caught by his majesty's own 
hands, being the only refreshment he could offer them. Fresh 
agreements for friendship and traffic were made, and the king, 
turning to his subjects, made a long speech, "the meaning 
whereof," says Winslow, "was, as far as we could learn, thus: 
'Was not he, Massasoyt, commander of the country about 
them? Was not such a town his, and the people of it? And 
should they not bring their skins unto us?' To which they 
answered, they were his, and would be at peace with us, and 
bring their skins unto us. After this manner he named at least 
thirty places, and their answer was as aforesaid to every one ; 
so that as it was delightful, it was tedious unto us. 

"This being ended, he lighted tobacco for us, and fell to dis- 
coursing of England, and of the King's Majesty, marvelling 
that he would live without a wife." The ambassadors, after 
an absence of some days, returned to Plymouth, their friendly 
host "being both grieved and ashamed that he could no bet- 
ter entertain them." 

On another excursion, by water, in search of a boy who had 
been lost, the English put into Cummaquid, (Barnstable,) 
where they found the Sachem lyanough, "a man not exceed- 
ing twenty-six years of age, but very personable, gentle, court- 
eous, and fair-conditioned; indeed, not like a savage, saving 
for his attire. His entertainment was answerable to his parts, 
and his cheer plentiful and various. 

"One thing," proceeds the narrative, "was very grievous to 
us at this place. There was an old woman, whom we judo-ed 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 493 

to be no less than a hundred years old, which came to see us, 

because she never saw English ; yet could not behold us with- 
out breaking forth into great passion," (emotion) "weeping 
and crying excessively. We demanding the reason of it, they 
told us she had three sons, who, when Master Hunt was in 
these parts, went aboard his ship to trade with him, and he 
carried them captives into Spain, (for Tisquantum" (Squanto) 
*' was at that time carried away also), by which means she was 
deprived of the comfort of her children in her old age. "We 
told them we were sorry that any Englishman should give 
them that offence, that Hunt was a bad man, and that all the 
English that heard it condemned him for the same; but for 
us, we would not offer them any such injury, though it would 
gain us all the skins in the country. So we gave her some 
small trifles, which somewhat appeased her." 

The boy who had been lost was found by the savages, and 
was delivered to his friends, plentifully "behung with beads." 

"Not long after, Hobbamock, one of the chief ])an{eses^ or 
warriors of Massasoit, came to live with the English; and, 
during the remainder of his life, remained faithfully devoted 
to their service. 

Some troubles, excited among the Indians by an unfriendly 
sachem, were repressed by the courage and promptness of 
Standish, and quite a number of petty chieftains subscribed 
their marks to an acknowledgment of allegiance to the British 
sovereign. Canonicus himself, the great Narragansett sachem, 
sent a messenger to the colony with friendly overtures. 

On the 9th of November, 1621, a small vessel, called the 
Fortune, bringing thirty-five additional colonists, arrived at 
Plj^mouth. She brought, however, neither arms nor provi- 
sion, and Canonicus, from some unknown reason, now changed 
his policy, and assumed a hostile attitude. He dispatched to 
the town a messenger, who, without any explanation, delivered 
"a bundle of new arrows, lapped in a rattlesnake's skin." 
The English were at a loss to imagine the meaning of this odd 
present, until Squanto informed them that it was a challenge, 



494 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and imported enmity, "Hereupon, after some deliberation, 
the Governor stuffed the skin with powder and shot, and sent 
it back," adding a haughty message of defiance. This bold 
attitude, or the mysterious contents of the skin, seem to have 
deeply wrought on the fears or the superstition of the chief — 
"insomuch as he would not once touch the powder and shot, 
or suffer it to stay in his house or country. Whereupon, the 
messenger refusing it, another took it up; and having been 
posted from place to place a long time, at length came whole 
back again." 

Notwithstanding this peaceable result, the settlers lost no 
time in securing their town by a fortification, and, under the 
direction of Standish, strict rules for vigilance and discipline 
were enforced. Squanto also wrought upon the fears of the 
surrounding Indians, by informing them that the English had 
the plague buried in their store-house, and could destroy the 
whole country, if they had a mind. The same astute politi- 
cian, by his falsehoods and treachery, had so enraged Massa- 
soit, that he sent his own knife, with executioners, to cut off 
the head and hands of his traducer. The governor, with too 
little scruple, was about to deliver the offender up to them, 
when an accidental interruption preserved his life. The exe- 
cutioners, "mad with rage, and impatient at delay, departed 
in great heat." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 495 



CHAPTER V. 

Weston's colony — its miserable condition — sickness of massasoit 
— cured by winslow — his gratitude — conspiracy of the 

INDIANS daring EXPEDITION OF STANDISH KILLING OF 

THE CONSPIRATORS WESTOn's COLONY BROKEN UP 

SUFFERINGS OF THE PLYMOUTH SETTLERS 

SEASONABLE RELIEF. 

During the summer, (1622,) two vessels arrived from Eng- 
land, dispatched by a Mr. Weston, who sent over fifty or sixty 
idle and profligate people to found a new colony in the Massa- 
chusetts. The result was what might have been expected. 
They settled at Wessagusset (Weymouth), were soon involved 
in trouble with the Indians, and were reduced to miserable 
straits for want of provision. In March, (1623,) a messenger 
came to Plymouth with a "pitiful narration of their lament- 
able and weak estate; and of the Indians' carriages, whose 
boldness increased abundantly; insomuch as the victuals they 
got, they would take it out of their pots, and eat before their 
faces; yea, if in any thing they gainsaid them, they were 
ready to hold a knife at their breasts ; that to give them content^ 
they had hanged one of them that stole their'''' (the Indians') ^^corn; 
and yet they regarded it not; that another of their company 
was turned salvage ; that their people had most forsaken the 
town, and made their rendezvous where they got their victuals, 
because they would not take pains to bring it home ; that they 
had sold their clothes for corn, and were ready to starve both 
with cold and hunger also, because they could not endure to 
get victuals by reason of their nakedness." 

In the same month, news came that the friendly Massasoit 
was sick to death, and Winslow, with Ilobbamock and John 
Hampden, (supposed by some to have been the famous patriot) 
were dispatched, with a few simple remedies, to his assistance. 
"In the way, Ilobbamock, manifesting a troubled spirit, brake 
forth into these speeches: Neen ivomasu sagamus, neen womasu 



496 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

sagamiis, &c., — 'My loving sacliem, my loving sachem! Many 
have I known, but never any like thee.' And turning him 
to me," (Winslow,) "said, whilst I lived I should never see 
his hke amongst the Indians; saying, he was no liar, he was 
not bloody and cruel, like other Indians; in anger and pas- 
sion he was soon reclaimed ; easy to be reconciled toward such 
as had offended him ; ruled by reason in such measure as he 
would not scorn the advice of mean" (humble) "men; and 
that he governed his men better with few strokes, than others 
did with many; truly loving where he loved; yea, he feared 
we had not a faithful friend left among the Indians ; showing 
how he offctimes restrained their malice, &c., continuing a long 
speech, with such signs of lamentation and unfeigned sorrow, 
as it would have made the hardest heart relent." 

Arrived at Pokanoket, they found the king's house so 
crowded with men that they could scarce get in, though the 
Indians did their best to make way. "There were they," says 
Winslow, "in the midst of their charms for him, making such 
a hellish noise, as it distempered us that were well, and there- 
fore unlike to ease him that was sick." The chief asked who 
was come, and they told him "Winsnow" (for they could not 
pronounce the letter I). His sight was quite gone, but he put. 
forth his hand and took that of his guest. " Then he said 
twice, though very inwardly," (faintly) "'^e;^ WmsnoioF^ 
which is to say, 'Art thou Winslow?' I answered Ahhe, that 
is. Yes. Then he doubled these words, Matta neen wonckanet 
namen, Winsnow f that is to say, 'Oh, Winslow, I shall never 
see thee again!'" 

His visitor, however, succeeded in getting down his throat 
a small "confection of many comfortable conserves," and the 
patient began to mend apace. The good Englishman likewise 
physicked and tended on the other sick in the village — and 
sent to Plymouth for chickens to make broth. But his royal 
patient, finding himself convalescent, would not have them 
killed, but kept them for breed. 

In gratitude at his cure, "he brake forth into the following 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 497 

speecHes: 'Now I see the English are my friends and love me; 
and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have 
showed me:' "Whilst we were there, our entertainment exceeded 
all other strangers'." By way of gratitude, Massasoit revealed 
to his guests the existence of a dangerous plot among the 
Massachusetts and many other tribes, which he had lately beeu 
solicited to join. Both Wessagusset and Plymouth were to 
be destroyed, and he earnestly cautioned them, as they valued 
their safety, to strike the first blow. 

They departed, followed by the blessings of the whole com- 
munity, and, on their return, lodged at Mattapoiset, with the 
sachepi Caunbitant, whose conduct they distrusted, and whom 
they were desirous to conciliate. "By the way," says Wins- 
low, "I had much conference with him, so likewise at his 
house, he being a notable politician, yet full of merry jests 
and squibs, and never better pleased than when the like are 
returned again upon him." This friendly conference the pious 
traveller improved to explain the religion of his people, and 
"especially the ten commandments; all which they barkened 
unto with great attention, and liked well of; onlv the sev- 
enth commandment they excepted against, thinking there 
were many inconveniences in it, that a man should be tied to 
one woman; about which we reasoned a good time." After 
meeting excellent entertainment, they returned to Plymouth. 

The information derived from Massasoit was confirmed by 
further evidence and by many suspicious circumstances ; and 
it was resolved to strike an immediate and terrifying blow at 
the chiefs of the conspirac3^ With wonderful hardihood, Cap- 
tain Standish, with only eight companions, set forth to crush 
this alarming plot before it could fully mature, having especial 
instruction to bring back the head of the most dangerous of 
the conspirators, — "Wittawamut, a notable insulting villain, 
one who had formerly imbued his hands in the blood of French 
and English, and had oft boasted of his own valor and derided 
their weakness, especially because, as he said, they died crying, 
making sour faces, more like children than men." 
S2 



498 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Arrived at Wessagussct, he gathered the people witliin the 
town, and warned them of their danger. Presently came an 
Indian, under pretence of trading in fars, but in reality to as- 
certain the captain's purpose. He went back, and reported that 
though he spoke smoothly, "he saw by his eyes that he was 
angry in his heart." 

Though they saw their plans discovered, the chiefs were no 
whit dismayed, and "one Pecksuot, who was a paniese, being 
a man of notable spirit," came to Hobbamock, and told him 
they had heard that Standish was come to kill them. "Tell 
him," said he, "we know it, but fear him not, neither will we 
shun him ; but let him begin when he dare, he shall no^ take 
us at unawares." The savages, one at a time or in small squads, 
would often present themselves before the captain, and whet 
the points of their knives before his face, with many other 
menacing gestures. 

" Amongst the rest, Wittawamut bragged of the excellency 
of his knife. On the end of the handle was pictured a woman's 
face; 'but,' said he, 'I have another at home wherewith I have 
killed both French and English, and that hath a man's face on 
it ; and by and by these two must marry.' Further he said of 
that knife he there had, Hannaim namen, hannnim michen, matta 
cuts; that is to say. By and by it should see, and by and by it 
should eat, but not speak. * * These things the Cap- 
tain observed, yet bare with patience for the present. 

"On the next day, seeing he could not get many of them 
together at once, and this Pecksuot and Wittawamut both to- 
gether, with another man, and a youth of some eighteen years 
of age, (which was brother to Wittawamut, and villain-like trod 
in his steps) and having about as many of his own company 
in a room with them, gave the word to his men, and the door 
being fast shut, began himself with Pecksuot, and snatching 
his own knife from his neck, though with much struggling, 
killed him therewith, (the point whereof he had made as sharp 
as a needle, and ground the back also to an edge). Wittawa- 
mut and the other man the rest killed, and took the youth, 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 499 

whom the captain caused to be hanged. But it is incredible 
how many wounds these two pineses received before they died, 
not making any fearful noise, but catching at their weapons, 
and striving to the last." 

Three more Indians were killed by the same party. A fight 
in the woods, in which Hobbamock took an active part, and in 
which the Indians were forced to fly, ensued. The colony, 
however, composed of such miserable materials, was broken 
up. A part sailed for Manhegin, and Standish took the re- 
mainder with him to Plymouth. The head of Wittawamut, 
after the fashion of the times, was stuck up, in terrorem, on the 
fort. Though no further demonstrations of hostility were made, 
yet, so completely had these fierce and energetic measures ter- 
rified the conspiring tribes, that, for fifty years afterwards, they 
made no more attempts against the English. 

Summer came on, and the unfortunate colonists suffered most 
■grievously from hunger and privation. All their corn had 
been used for planting, and they roamed the woods for nuts 
and the sea-shore for clams. To add to their distress, a terrible 
and long-continued drought threatened the entire destruction 
of their crop. In this heavy case, they kept up an almost 
unexampled fortitude and cheerfulness. It is said their whole 
stock of provisions, at one time, was but a pint of corn, which, 
being impartially divided, gave them five kernels apiece — an. 
incident since afiectingly commemorated, on the same spot, at 
the luxurious entertainments of their descendants. 

A day was finally appointed for fasting and humiliation and 
prayer to God for relief — "if our continuance there might any 
way stand with his glory and our good." All day the people 
performed their devotions together, beseeching that the rain 
of heaven might bedew their parched fields. Ere the sun sank, 
clouds gathered on all sides, "and on the next morning," con- 
tinues the pious chronicler, "distilled such soft, sweet, and 
moderate showers of rain, continuing some fourteen days, and 
mixed with such seasonable weather, as it was hard to say 
whether our withered corn or our drooping affections, were 



500 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

most quickened and revived; such was the bounty and good 
ness of our God." 

At this seasonable and happy change, the neighboring In- 
dians Avere struck with surprise ; especially, says Winslow, at 
"the difference between their conjuration, and our invocation 
to God for rain; theirs being mixed with such storms and 
tempests, as sometimes, instead of doing them good, it layeth the 
corn flat on the ground, to their prejudice; but ours in so gen- 
tle and seasonable a manner, as they had never observed the 
like." A plentiful harvest relieved all apprehensions of famine. 

In July and August came two ships, with sixty additional 
settlers. In a letter dispatched to the Pilgrims by their friends 
who yet remained, occurs the following affectionate and pro- 
phetic sentiment: "Let it not be grievous to you that you 
have been the instruments to break the ice for others who 
come after you with less difficulty; the lionor shall he yours to 
the world's end; we bear you always in our breasts, and our* 
hearty affection is towards you all, as are the hearts of hun- 
dreds more who never saw your faces." 



CHAPTER VI. 

FORMATION OF NEW SETTLEMENTS DISSOLUTE COBIMUNITY OF MERRY 

MOUNT BROKEN UP MAY-POLE CUT DOWN SETTLEMENT OF THE 

MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON — CHARACTER OF THE EMIGRANTS 

AMUSING REGULATIONS AND PENALTIES INTOLERANCE. 

We now leave the fortunes of the little colony of Plymoutli, 
Avhich, however, had taken firm root, and during the whole 
season of reli.sious persecution, continued to increase and to 
!<eii(l its offshoots into the neighboring regions. Other planta- 
tions were rapidly springing up in its neighborhood. In 1624, 
a colony was planted at Cape Ann, and four years afterwards, 
another at Naumkeag (Salem) under the famous Captain John 
Endicott. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 501 

A small settlement, called Mount Wallaston (Quincy), had 
fallen into the hands of one Thomas Morton, described as "a 
petty fogging attorney of Furnival's Inn," who, with a crew 
of dissolute companions, lived there in much excess and licen- 
tiousness. He changed the name of the place to Merry Mount, 
— ("as if this jollity could have lasted always,") — and besides 
selling fire-arms to the Indians, kept a haunt for all the idle 
serving- men and lewd companions in the country. Thus they 
lived for some time, "vainly quaffing and drinking both wine 
and strong liquors in great excess (as some have reported, ten 
pounds worth in a morning) — setting up a May-pole, drinking 
and dancing about it, and frisking about it like so many fairies 
or fiiries rather — yea and worse practices. * ^ * 

The said Morton, likewise, to show his poetry, composed sun- 
dry rhymes and verses, some tending to lasciviousness, and 
others to the detraction and scandal of some persons names, 
. which he affixed to his idle or idol may -pole."* 

These dissolute courses received their first check from "that 
worthy gentleman Mr. John Endicott," who, soon after the 
foundation of his new settlement, paid them a visit, cut down 
their May-pole, read them a terrible lecture, and once more 
changed the name of their abode, calling it Mount Dagon. 
The whole community was finally broken up by a small force 
dispatched from Plymouth, under Captain Standish. This 
party seized Morton, and "demolished his house, that it might 
no longer be a roost for such unclean birds." The culprit 
was sent over seas. "Notwithstanding, in England he got free 
again, and wrote an infamous and scurrilous book against 
many of the godly and chief men of the country, full of lies 
and slanders, and full fraught with profane calumnies against 
their names and persons and the ways of God." Returning 
imprudently to Boston, he' was imprisoned "for the aforesaid 
book and other things," and finally, "being grown old in wick- 
edness, at last ended his life in Piscataqua." 

A royal charter had been obtained, in 1628, for the formation 

* New England's Memorial. 



502 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 

of a new company to settle the Massachusetts, and many per- 
sons of wealth and eminence in the ranks of the Puritans has- 
tened to join in the formation of a new and powerful colony, 
A small settlement was made at Dorchester, and during the 
months of June and July, 1630, no less than eleven ships, 
bringing a great number of passengers, arrived in Massachu- 
setts Bay. These people, under their governor, the famous 
John Winthrop, at first settled in Charlestown, where a small 
colony had already been established. The only person living 
on the peninsula of Shawmut, at that time, was the Eev. Wil- 
liam Blackstone, an Episcopal clergyman, who had left Eng- 
land on account of scruples in his profession, and who had 
built a cottage and planted an orchard where the city of Bos- 
ton now stands. On his beautiful little domain was a spring 
of fine water, and the governor, with other persons of distinc- 
tion, readily accepted his invitation to settle there. More fol- 
lowed, and by degrees the principal seat of the new plantation 
was established at Shawmut. Five more vessels came over 
during the year, swelling the list of emigrants to the new col- 
ony to the number of fifteen hundred. Durir^g the three fol- 
lowing years such numbers flocked over to this settlement, that 
an Order in Council was issued to restrain the tide of emigration ; 
but for a long time it continued steadily to fl,ow to Massachusetts. 
The year 1635 was memorable for the arrival at Boston of 
a large number of emigrants from England, among whom were 
Hugh Peters, afterwards chaplain to Ohver Cromwell, and Mr. 
Yane, (afterwards Sir Henry,) who, the year after his arrival, 
was elected governor. This man, destined to play such a con- 
spicuous part in the great English Revolution, "first displayed 
his wily and subtle disposition, and his profound genius for 
politics, in the controversies of Massachusetts ; and nothing but 
that disastrous fate, which seemed to influence all the acts of 
Charles I., prevented this humble colony from being the theatre 
to which the prodigious energies of Hampden, Cromwell, Haz- 
elrigg, and Pym would have been confined, for the}' had actually 
embarked, but were compelled to return by a royal order." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 503 

The wealth and importance of this new commuuitj were 
commensurate with the growing power of the Puritan party. 
That party, originally so humble and depressed, was already 
beginning to uplift its voice in the councils of the English 
nation, and to provoke fresh and suicidal efforts of that arbi- 
trary power, which was destined, ere long, to fall, with such 
terrible circumstances, before it. Accordingly, the men who 
now transferred their fortunes to the New World, though 
aiming, as earnestly as their predecessors, at the foundation of 
a religious commonwealth, brought with them somewhat of 
that insolence which is always the handmaid of prosperity. 
''Their characters," says the candid and judicious Baylies, 
'' were more elevated, but their dispositions were less kindly, and 
their tempers more austere, sour, and domineering, than those 
of their Plymouth brethren. They had brought tliemselves to 
a positive conviction of their own evangelical purity and per- 
fect godliness, and therefore they tolerated not even the slight- 
est difference in theological opinions." They were composed, 
in short, of that stuff, which, according to circumstances, 
makes a martyr or a persecutor, and, unfortunately for their 
reputation, the latter had opportunity for development. This, 
however, can hardly be laid to the door of their faith. Hav- 
ing power to persecute, they persecuted; and where is the 
religious community which, having such power, ever forbore 
to use it? 

Until aroused by opposition, (which did not occur for many 
years,) the arbitrary and intolerant spirit of the authorities, 
for the most part, lay dormant, only indulging itself in muni- 
cipal regulations and fantastic penalties, rather fitted to pro- 
voke mirth than indignation. A "]\faine Law," quite charac- 
teristic of the times, was in operation at a very early day. In 
1634, according to the notes of an aggrieved traveller, "there 
were in Boston but two houses of entertainment, called Ordi- 
naries, into which if a stranger went, he was presently fol- 
lowed by one appointed to that office, who woo'd thrust him- 
self into his companj^ uninvited, and if he called for more 



504 NORTH AND SOUTH a:me;uca. 

drink than the officer, in his judgment, tho't he cou'd soberly 
bear, he wo'd presently countermand it, and appoint the propor- 
tion, beyond which he could not get one drop." 

Numerous laws, regulating apparel, were made, and thougli 
such as had brought over vain and expensive articles of attire, 
were allowed, for the most part, to wear them out, no mercy 
was granted to "immoderate great sleeves, slash-apparel, and 
long wigs." Any person might be arraigned before the Gen- 
eral Court, "who may give offence to his neighbor by the 
excessive length of his hair." All people, under penalty of a 
fine, were compelled to attend church. Constables were or- 
dered to "take special notice of all common coasters," (loafers) 
" unprofitable fowlers, and tobacco takers." But the severity 
of the ordinances against the last-named culprits was, after 
a time, relaxed, in favor of the clergy, who had begun to 
patronize the forbidden weed. 

For many years, no regular S3^stem of law was adopted, and 
sentences of "punishment, framed according to the ingenious 
fancy of the Court, were often whimsical in the extreme. 
Thus, one Josias Plaistowe, for stealing from the Indians, was 
fined, and condemned "hereafter to be called Josias, and not 
Mr. as he formerly used to be;" and Mrs. Cornish, "found 
suspicious of incontinency," was "seriously admonished to 
take heed." We find " Robert Shorthose, for swearing by the 
blood of God, sentenced to have his tongue put into a cleft 
stick, and to stand so for the space of half an hour." And 
finally, Mr. Edward Palmer, for extortioning the good town 
of Boston in the sum of two pounds, thirteen shillings, and 
four pence, for a new pair of stocks, was adjudged to pay a 
fine of double that amount, and to make personal trial of his 
own handiwork for the space of one hour. 

Reviling of dignities, or any question of their authority, 
.always met with sharp rebuke and punishment. According 
to the record, 1632, "Thomas Knower was set in the bilboes 
for threat'ning y*' Court, that if he should be punished, he 
would have it tried in England, whether he was lawfully pun- 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 505 

islied or no." Another, for calling a justice of the peace 
"justass," was subjected to grievous fine and banishment. 

Edicts of a sharper nature, though not yet enforced to the 
sanguinary extreme, were not long in making their appearance. 
"Hugh Bretts, being found guilty of heresy, is ordered to be 
gone out of the jurisdiction and not to return again on pain 
of being hanged." One Mr. Painter, who, "on a sudden 
turned Anabaptist," refused to allow his child to be baptized. 
"Whereupon, after much patience and clean conviction of 
error, because he was very poor, so as no other but corporal 
punishment could be fastened on him, he was ordered to be 
whipped, not for his opinion, but for reproaching the Lord's 
Ordinance. He endured his punishment with much ohstinac//, 
and said, boastingly, that God had marvellously assisted him."* 

The aborigines came in for their share of summary legisla- 
tion, it being resolved, (among other stringent regulations in 
their behoof,) that if any slaves should take refuge among 
them, as many Indians should be "captivated" in their stead. 
Their religious services were sternly suppressed. "Ordered, 
that no Indian shall Pawaw," (powwow) "or perform outward 
worship to their false gods, or to y® devil, in our jurisdiction, 
under penalty of 6X." 

* Winthrap's Journal. 



50'6 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ROGER WILLIAMS — HIS LIBERALITY AND BOLDNESS PERSECUTED BY THE 

AUTHORITIES OF MASSACHUSETTS BANISHED TAKES REFUGE WITH 

THE INDIANS — LAYS THE FOUNDATION OF PROVIDENCE PRO- 
CURES THE GRANT OF RHODE ISLAND. 

As the original New England colony had its foundation in 
the bigotry and intolerance of the parent-country, so the 
same causes, developed by prosperity in its powerful neigh- 
bor, Massachusetts, were destined to form another state, of 
purer and more illustrious origin, perhaps, than any in New 
England, except the little colony of Plymouth. Roger Wil- 
liams, an eminent liberal divine, was born in "Wales, in the 
year 1599, and, it has been said, received his education under 
the patronage of the famous Coke. He arrived at Boston, in 
1631, moved by the expectation of finding in the new colony 
complete toleration for any rational form of Christianity. He 
was soon settled at Salem as assistant minister, despite the 
opposition of the general magistrates, who already had an 
inkling of the nature of his belief. 

Harassed, however, by their continued hostility, he left his 
charge, and removed to the more liberal colony of Plymouth. 
Here also he was appointed assistant, and, by his eloquence 
and piety, gained the hearty good- will of that little associa- 
tion of free spirits. While residing here, actuated by benevo- 
lent motives, he took no little pains to learn the language and 
gain the good-will of the Indians. "God was pleased," he 
writes, "to give me a painful, patient spirit, to lodge with 
them in their filthy, smoky holes, even while I lived at Ply- 
mouth and Salem, to gain their tongue." He obtained the 
friendship of Massasoit, and the confidence of the great Nar- 
ragansett sachems, Canonicus and his nephew, Miantonimo, 
The knowledge and intimacy thus acquired, afterwards stood 
him (and all New England) in no little stead. 







Koi; K K W I I. 1. I A M s. 



si:TTLr.,\:EXT of key/ England. 507 

After a residence of two years in Plymouth, lie again re- 
moved to Salem, whither a considerable number of his flock, 
attached to his person and preaching, followed him. In 
August, 1634, he \vas regularly instituted as pastor of the 
church of that place, to the no small disgust and resentment 
of the General Court. Their main ground of objection to 
him was his advocacy of the glorious doctrine of perfect free- 
dom of belief He held "that no human power had the right 
to intermeddle in matters of conscience; and that neither 
church, nor state, nor bishop, nor priest, nar king, may pre- 
scribe the smallest iota of religious faith. For this, he main- 
tained, a man is responsible to God alone." This doctrine, so 
entirely at issue with their own intolerant and intermeddling 
system, naturally displeased the magistrates; and, under vari- 
ous frivolous pretexts, he was frequently censured, or sum- 
moned to appear before them. 

With noble confidence he especially opposed the laws com- 
pelling universal attendance at church, and involuntary sup- 
port of the clergy. The civil power, he justly affirmed, "ex- 
tends only to the bodies, and goods, and outward estates of 
men"— with their religion, "the civil magistrate may not inter- 
meddle, even to stop a church from apostacy and heresy." 
These opinions, now so undeniable, brought down on his head 
a perfect storm of civil and ecclesiastical vengeance. On a 
spiteful pretext, the Court disfranchised the town of Salem, 
(which stood faithfully by its pastor,) and in July, 1635, put 
the offender himself on trial, for his "dangerous opinions." 
After long debate, they gave him and his church "time to 
consider these things till the next General Court, and then, 
either to give satisfaction or to expect the sentence." That 
body met in October, and, as he still declined to recant, it was 
resolved that, whereas Mr. Williams "hath broached and 
divulged divers new and dangerous opinions against the au- 
thority of magistrates, and yet maintaineth the same without 
any retractation;" therefore, within six weeks he should be 
banished from the colony. lie remained a while, on suffer- 



508 NORTH AXD SOUTH AMEllICA. 

ance, but many people, "taken witli an apprehension of his 
godliness," resorted to him, and the Court, in alarm, dis- 
patched a pinnace to seize him, and put him on board ship 
for England. 

Advised of its coming, though in ill-health, and though it 
was the dead of winter, he left his family, and took refuge in 
the wilderness (January, 1636). Here he wandered miserably 
from one Indian hut to another, receiving a precarious subsi.st- 
ence from the hospitality of their poverty-stricken tenants. 
"For fourteen weeks," he says, in a letter written thirty-live 
years after, " I was sorely tossed, in a bitter winter season, not 
knowing what bread or bed did mean. * * * Thesa 
ravens" (the Indians) "fed me in the wilderness." At last he 
arrived at Mount Hope, where the aged Massasoit gave him a 
kindly welcome, and granted him a tract of land on Seekonk 
river. Here, with a number of friends, who in the spring fol- 
lowed him from Salem, he commenced a settlement, but was 
presently disturbed by a letter from "Winslow, the governor 
of Plymouth, "lovingly advising me," he says, "since I was 
fallen within the edge of their bounds, and they were loth to 
displease the Bay" (Boston,) "to remove but to the other side 
of the water," and there "be loving neighbors together." 

The fields he had planted, and the dwelling he had begun 
to build, were abandoned, and with five companions, in a 
canoe, he passed down Seekonk river, to seek a refuge in more 
distant wilds. As he paddled under the high banks of the 
western shore, some Indians greeted him with the friendly 
salutation, "What cheer, Netop?* what cheer?" — words as 
memorable with the descendants of his people, as the "Wel- 
come, Englishmen," with all New England. Near the mouth 
of the little river Mooshausic, he espied a fair spring and a 
pleasant country. This spring is still pointed out in the midst 
of the beautiful city of which he was the founder. . Here he 
pitched his habitation, and in the month of June, with his lew 
followers, laid out the site of "Providence Plantation." Few 

* Friend. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 509 

cities have arisen with a surer prosperity, and none can boast a 
fairer or more unsullied origin. 

By the sacrifice of a part of his little property, he purchased 
land, and gained the good- will of the Narragansett sachem; 
but no amount of recompense could have induced those jeal- 
ous chieftains to yield to any other Englishman that foothold 
in their territorj^, which for a comparative trifle they allowed 
to the peaceful and friendly exile from intolerance. The lands 
thus obtained, he distributed, free of cost, among his followers ; 
but the town afterwards voted him thirty pounds — not as com- 
pensation, but as "a loving gratuity." The settlement became, 
what he most earnestly desired and intended, "a shelter for 
persons distressed for conscience." By mutual agreement of 
the colonists, the majority was to govern in civil matters, and 
in none other. This resolve, the earliest in the legislation of 
Rhode Island, has never been disgraced by a single act of 
religious intolerance. 

Two years after his settlement at Providence, Williams 
procured from the Narragansett sachems, on very moderate 
terms, a grant of the beautiful island of Rhode Island, as an 
asylum for a large number of persons proscribed as heretics 
by the Court of Boston, and "lovingly entertained" by the 
]>eople at Providence Plantations. A flourishing settlement 
sprung up there, owing its existence to the sagacious advice 
.'ind friendly interposition of the exiled preacher, "It was 
i!ot price nor money," he writes, twenty years afterwards, 
" that could have purchased Rhode Island. It was obtained 
by love; by the love and favor which that honorable gentle- 
man, Sir Henry Vane, and myself had with the great sachem 
Miantonimo, about the league which I procured between the 
Massachusetts English and the Narragansetts, in the Peqiiot 
war." The generous and influential agency of Williams, in 
that wax, in favor of his persecutors, will shortly be described. 



510 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTERVIII. 

SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT PEQUOT WAR EXPEDITION OF MASON 

DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOT FORT MASSACRES AND SUBJECTION 

OF THE RACE — BIGOTRY OF EARLY CHRONICLERS. 

The first English settlement of Connecticut is due to the 
enterprise of the little colony of Plymouth. The more pow- 
erful government of Massachusetts, deterred by many alarming 
rumors, had obstinately refused to undertake it. In October, 
1633, William Holmes, with the frame of a house, and a 
small company of men, was dispatched in a vessel from Ply- 
mouth, to establish a trading-post on the Connecticut river. 
He passed the Dutch fort at Hartford, despite the threats 
of the garrison, and built his house in what is now Wind- 
sor, a little below the junction of the Farmington with the 
Connecticut. 

Emigration from Massachusetts rapidly followed, and by 
the end of the year 1636, about eight hundred emigrants were 
settled in various stations on the Connecticut. An Indian 
war, ere long, menaced the destruction of the new plantation,* 
The Pequots, some years earlier, had committed several mur- 
ders, and injurious reprisals had lately been made by an expe- 
dition dispatched from Massachusetts. The severest conse- 
quences of the hostility thus kindled fell upon the lately - 
planted colony; the Indians, being ever on the alert to sur- 
prise stragglers from the settlements, and often putting their 

*"T\vo colonies of churches being brought forth, and a third conceived, 
within the bounds of New England,\i was time," says Cotton Mather, "for the 
devil to take the alarum, and make some attempt in opposition to the possession 
which the Lord Jesus Christ was going to have of these utmost parts of the 
earth. These parts were then covered with nations of barbarous indians and 
infidels, in whom the prince of the power of the air did ivork as a spirit; nor 
could it be expected that nations of wretches, whose whole religion was the 
most explicit sort of devil-worship, should not be acted by the devil to engaije 
in some early and bloody action, for the extinction of a plantation so contriiiy 
to his interests, as that of New England was." — Magnalia Christi Americana. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 511 

captives to death with cruel tortures. A small fort, erected 
by the English at Say brook, was in a state of constant siege. 

Sassacus, the chief sachem of the Pequots, with a policy far 
more common in civilized than savage warfare, now made 
every effort to secure an alliance with his old enemies, the 
Narragansetts, for the extirpation of the hated strangers. He 
dispatched ambassadors to Canonicus and Miantonimo, urging 
every motive for the relinquishment of their ancient enmity, 
and the union of their forces against the common enemy. To 
counteract this mission, the Massachusetts authorities requested 
Roger Williams, whom they had so lately driven from their 
jurisdiction, to undertake the difficult and hazardous task of 
gaining over the Narragansetts to the English interests. 

Eeadily overlooking his own wrongs, in zeal for the public 
good, the exiled minister at once set forth alone in his canoe, 
"cutting through a stormy wind and great seas, every minute 
in hazard of life," to the dwelling of the two sachems. There 
he remained three days, mingling freely with the Pequot 
ambassadors, still reeking with the blood of the slaughtered 
settlers, and "from whom he nightly looked for their bloody 
knives at his throat also." His influence, combined with an- 
cient enmity, outweighed all the eloquence of the Pequots. 
The aged Canonicus, {^^morosus cBque ac harharus senex'^)* as 
he calls him, was softened by his persuasions, and entered into 
league with the English. Throughout the war which ensued, 
his authority, and the information which he afforded, were of 
great service to the settlers. 

In April, 1637, an attack was made by the Pequots on 
Wethersfield, and nine people were killed — an alarming out- 
rage, which roused the colonists into immediate and energetic 
action. Ninety men, under Captain John Mason, a bold and 
active soldier, were equipped, and the Rev. Mr. Stone, who 
had led his people through the wilderness to Hartford, was 
appointed their chaplain. A party of seventy Mohegan In- 
dians, led by the famous or notorious Uncas, then in rebellion 
* " An ancient alike savage and morose." 



512 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

.igainst his kinsman Sassacus, were likewise induced to join 
the expedition. Letters, entreating assistance, were also sent 
to Massachusetts, and a body of men, under command of 
Daniel Patrick, was dispatched from that colony, to raise a 
force of Narragansetts, and then to join the party of Mason. 

Early in May, the latter proceeded down the river, and 
Uncas, with his people, being set on shore, defeated a party of 
the enemy, killing seven and taking one prisoner. This cap- 
tive, to the disgrace of the whites, they were permitted to tor- 
ture to death. From Saybrook, the expedition set sail for the 
Narragansett country, intending thus to take the Pequots by 
surprise. From thence Mason, attended by a considerable 
body of native allies, at once marched westward, unwilling, 
by waiting for the approaching forces of Patrick, to risk his 
chance of surprising the enemy in their quarters. He was 
apprehensive that the Indians, if advised of his coming, would 
lly "to a swamp, some three or four miles back of them, a 
marvellous great and secure swamp, which they call Ohomo- 
ivauke, which signifies Owl's nest." A little before day-light, 
on the 5th of June, he led his forces up the "Pequot Hill,"- 
on which their strongest fortress was situated. 

The Indians, though taken entirely by surprise, fought well 
with their rude weapons, and for some time maintained an 
uncertain contest. At last, Mason, wearied out, cried, "We 
must burn them!" and, catching a brand, set fire to the mats 
ill one of the wigwams. The flame, urged by a high wind, 
lapidly spread through the whole fort, and a terrible scene 
ensued. 

The warriors, fighting till their bow-strings were snapped b}- 
the heat, perished in the burning wigwams, or were shot down 
as they vainly attempted to escape over the palisades. A great 
number of women, children, and aged people, were also vic- 
tims to the same horrible fate. In all at least four hundred 
perished, and possibly many more. 

"It was supposed," says Dr. Increase Mather, "that no less 

* In Groton. It atill retains the name. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND, 513 

than 500 or 600 Pequot souls were brought down to hell that 
day."* Others have said that the number of the victims was 
nearer eight hundred, " It was a fearful sight," says old Morton, 
"to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood 
quenching the same; and horrible was the stink and scent 
thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave 
the praise thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully 
for them, thus to enclose their enemies into their hands," &;c. 

The distress of the friends of the slaughtered garrison is 
described by Cotton Mather, as usual, with unfeeling exulta- 
tion. They had hastened to the scene on the following day, in 
great numbers — "but when they came to see the ashes of their 
friends mingled with the ashes of the fort, and the bodies of 
their countrymen so terribly barbikew^d, where the English 
had been doing a good morning's work, they howl'd, they 
roar'd, they stamp'd, they tore their hair; and though they 
did not swear, (for they knew not how,) yet they cursed, and 
were the pictures of so many devils in desparation." 

The complete destruction or subjection of the tribe natur- 
ally ensued. The Pequots, separated into small bodies, were 
easily cut off, in detail, by the forces of the English, and slain 
or carried into slavery. On one occasion, several hundred were 
taken in the Narragansett country, and, to use the language 
of the Eev. "William Hubbard, "the men among them, to the 
number of 30, were turned presently into Charon's ferry boat, 
under the command of Skipper Gallop, who dispatched them 
a little without the harbour." "Twas found," says Cotton Ma- 
ther, "the quickest way to feed the fishes with 'em." The women 
and children were enslaved or given to the Narragan setts. 

* The worthy doctor seems to have tnken especial delight in contemplating 
tlie uncomfort:)ble future of his foes. Elsewhere he says, "we have heard 
of two and twenty Indian captains, slain all of them, and brought down to 
hell in one day." Again, he tells us of a certain chief, who sneered at the 
religion of the English, and " withal, added a hideous blasphemy, immedi- 
ately upon which, a bullet took him in the head, and dashed out his brains, 
sending his cursed soul in a moment amongst tlie devils and blaspliemcrs, 
in hell forever." — " Prevalency of Prayer,'' page 7. 

33 



514 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Sassacus and a small body of his followers tot»k refuge 
among the Mohawks, by whom, however, they were speed- 
ily put to death; and the remainder of his tribe, thinned by 
massacre and transportation, remained in complete subjection 
to the English. 

In reading accounts like these, it seems hard to determine 
which is the savage and which the child of civilization — and 
the hasty conclusion would be that, except in the possession 
of fire-arms to defeat the Indians, and of letters to record their 
destruction, the authors and approvers of such deeds were but 
little in advance of the unhappy race, whose extermination 
left room for their increase and prosperity. But until our own 
day is free from the disgrace of scenes jiarallel in cruelty, 
enacted by those who have had the advantage of two centuries 
of civilization, it ill becomes us to question with too great 
severity the deeds of men struggling for existence, in the wil- 
derness, not only with a savage foe, but with all those hard- 
ships and uncertainties which render the heart of man fierce, 
callous, and unscrupulous in the means of self-preservation. 
The most disagreeable part of the whole business, as we have 
remarked before, is the fiendish exultation of the learned his- 
torians, who, sitting in their arm-chairs at Boston and Ipswich, 
record, with godless sneers and chuckles, the defeat and suf- 
ferings of the savage patriots of the soil. 

These gentlemen, possessed with a happy conviction of their 
own righteousness, appear to have thought that the Lord, as 
a matter of course, was on their side, and that only the Ad- 
versary, or his agents, could be arrayed against them. A long 
course of ecclesiastical dictation had made them, in their 
''conceit," as inflillible as so many popes; and a constant hand- 
ling of Jewish scripture had supplied them with a vast num- 
ber of historical texts, all susceptible of excellent application 
in behalf of their position. These were the wars of the Lord ; 
the extirpation of the uncircumcised occupants of the Prom- 
ised Land; crusades against Edomites, Philistines, and Og, 
kino- of Bashan; and any severity to the vanquished, or any 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. bio 

elation at their defeat, might find an easy precedent in the 
exterminating policy of priests and prophets, and the paeans of 
victory chanted over their fallen foes. 



CHAPTER IX. 

INCREASE OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES SUCCESS OF THE PURITANS 

IN ENGLAND — PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS PHILIP THE WAM- 

PANOAG COMMENCEMENT OF "PHILIP'S "WAR " CAPTAIN BEN- 
JAMIN CHURCH HIS INFLUENCE WITH THE INDIANS FIGHTS 

AND SKIRMISHES PHILIP RETREATS WESTWARD ROUSES 

THE TRIBES DESTRUCTION OF VILLAGES. 

By the year 16-iO, the tide of emigration, which for many 
years had flowed steadily to New England, gradually ceased. 
The ascendency of the Puritan party in England had removed 
lihe grievous wrongs and disabilities under which that numer- 
ous body had once labored, and the temptation to share the 
success of the triumphant faction at home was greater than 
that to retreat into the wilderness, which had been its refuge 
when weak and persecuted by its destined victims. Upward-j 
of twenty thousand people, however, by this time, had con;e 
over, and the colonies, by their own natural increase, contin- 
ually advanced in numbers and prosperity. 

In 1643, the four settlements of Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Plymouth, and New Haven, formed a confederacy for mutual 
aid and protection, called "the United Colonies of New Eng- 
land" — the germ of that mighty association, which now num- 
bers more millions than its original did thousands, and whicli, 
from a bleak corner of New England, has extended, for twenty 
degrees of latitude, over the thousand leagues of mountain, 
forest, and prairie, that divide the two oceans. 

From the year 1656 to 1661, the ever-infamous persecution 
of the Quakers raged in the Massachusetts colony. It is un- 
necessary in this place to recapitulate the scenes which, more 



516 JS'ORTH AND SOUTH AMEKICA. 

perhaps than any others, disgrace the early history of our 
country. Great cruelties were exercised toward the offending 
sect, and four of its members, who had returned to the colony, 
after banishment, were murdered by public execution. This 
insane contest between bigoted power and fanatic but mag- 
nanimous resistance, was finally ended, in 1661, by an order 
from the king, that any obnoxious persons of the persecuted 
persuasion should not be punished in the colony, but be sent 
over to England. 

During the half century which had now elapsed since the 
first foundation of New England, a great change had taken 
place in the habits and demeanor of the Indians. Canonicus, 
had he been living, would no longer have refused, with a 
superstitious dread, the powder and bullets sent to him from 
Plymouth, "lapped in a rattlesnake's skin," by Avay of coun- 
ter-defiance, but would have joyfully appropriated them for 
the supply of the royal arsenal. The natives, by trafiic with 
unprincipled traders, were well supplied with fire-arms, and 
had learned to use them with deadly accuracy. Their num- 
bers, in New England, in 1675, have been computed at fifty 
thousand, and they had a strong and dangerous consciousness 
of their power. 

On the death of Massasoit, the firm ally of the whites, his 
son, Wamsutta, or Alexander, succeeded to the vacant throne 
of Pokanoket. He had held his royalty but a few months, 
when, on some suspicion, he was seized by the English, and 
carried into Plymouth, where, in a few days, he died of a 
fever, caused by natural anger and vexation. Ilis brother, 
jNIetacomet, (the famous King Philip,) succeeded him, and 
though, for nine years, he maintained an outward semblance 
of friendship to the whites, there can be little doubt that he 
cherished a secret enmity against the oppressorg^pf his brother, 
and the steady encroachers on the territory of the whole In- 
dian race. 

Various disputes, originating as early as 1671, between the 
great Wampanoag and the English, had been subjects for 




KIA-O VHIT.ir, 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 517 

negotiation and treaty; and Philip, singular as it may seem, 
had subscribed articles relinquishing almost every point in 
issue, and, as it were, delivering himself, body and soul, to 
the control of the Plymouth authorities. His motive, doubt- 
less, was to blind his enemies as to the extent and dangerous 
nature of the conspiracy he was meditating. His plan was 
nothing less than the complete extermination of the whites, 
and in its prosecution, he displayed a policy, courage, and per- 
severance which, in a savage, have never been surpassed. To 
knit the clans of New England, immemorially dissevered by 
traditional feud and enmity, into a confederacy against a foe 
so terrible as the English, might well have seemed to the 
most sanguine, a hopeless task; yet such was the object to 
which Philip bent all his policy and energy, and in which, to 
a great extent, he succeeded. 

In carrying out this scheme, it was his ill fortune, at an 
early day, to arouse the energies of a foe as sleepless and un- 
tiring as himself. Captain Benjamin Church, the most famous 
Indian-fighter in the records of New England, had, in the 
spring of 1675, settled in the wilderness of Sogkonate, now 
Little Compton. He was a man of undaunted courage, of a 
sagacity fitted to cope with the wiliest tactics of Indian war- 
fare, and withal of a kindly and generous disposition, which, 
except when engaged in immediate hostilities, seem to have 
secured for him the respect and attachment of the wild tribes 
whom he so often encountered. His narrative, written in his 
old age, by his son, from his own notes and dictation, is one 
of the choicest fragments of original history in our possession. 
As a literary performance, it is just respectable; but for vivid- 
ness of detail and strength of expression, it is something mort, 
and may well be entitled to rank with such rude but stir- 
ring productions as the memoirs of Bernal Diaz and Captain 
John Smith. 

In the spring of 1675, Philip sent six ambassadors to Awa- 
shonks, squaw-sachem or queen of the Sogkonates, demanding 
the adhesion of that tribe to his league, on pain of hostility 



518 NOKTH AND SOUTH .AMERICA. 

and vengeance. As on all occasions of Indian diplomacy, 
she appointed a solemn dance, and by way of bearing both 
sides of the question, sent for her friend and neighbor, Mr. 
Church. On his arrival, this high ceremony was in full per- 
formance, and her majesty, in person, with great energy,* was 
loading the dance. A grand talk was held, and Church, with 
all his eloquence, dissuaded her from joining the hostile con- 
federacy. The six Wampanoags, he says, "made a formida- 
ble appearance, with their faces painted, and their hairs trim- 
med up in comb fashion, with their powder-horns and shot- 
bags at their backs, which among that nation is the posture and 
figure of preparedness for war." Church stepped up to them, 
and, feeling of their shot-bags, which were full of bullets, asked 
them what those were for. The}' scofiingly replied, "To shoot 
pigeons with." 

Hereupon the indignant captain advised Awashonks "to 
knock those six ^Mount Hopes f on the head, and shelter her- 
self under the protection of the English. Upon N\hich, the 
]\[ount Hopes were for the present dumb." A furious discus- 
sion ensued among the tribe, and one Little Eyes, (a privy 
counsellor) requested Church to step a little aside, (that he 
might dispatch him cjuietly,) but the interference of some 
others disconcerted this treacherous intent. The Englishman 
then sternl}' rebuked the AVampanoags, as bloody wretches, 
thirsting for the blood of their neighbors, and told them, if 
nothing but war would satisfy them, that he should prove a 
isharp thorn in their sides. His eloquence carried the day, and 
Awashonks and her people, for a time, observed fidelity to 
the English. 

It was evident enough that some great design was on foot, 
for Philip had sent the squaws and children of his tribe, for 
safety, into .the Narragansett country, and had been holding u 
mighty dance, at his favorite seat of Mount Hope, for several 
weeks, with all the young warrioi-s of the neighborhood. On 

* "All ill a muck of sweat," says the captain's narrative. 

f So called, from Mount Hope the chief seat of the Wampanoajj sachems. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 519 

tiie 2'lth of June, hostilities commenced with an attack on the 
little town of Swansey, and nine of its inhabitants were killed. 
The village was deserted, and the savages burned it. 

Detachments were sent from Massachusetts to the assistance 
of the remoter settlements, and Captain Church, with a com- 
},)any from Plymouth, also hastened to the scene of action. 
After some skirmishing, Philip was driven from his old haunt, 
but only to extend his ravages more widely in other direc- 
tions. Church, with only nineteen men, held on in pursuit, 
and, ere long, encountered a body of three hundred savages, 
where the town of Tiverton now stands. "The hill," he says, 
''seemed to move, being covered over with Indians, with their 
bright guns glittering in the sun, and running in a circumfer- 
ence with a design to surround them." The little party, thus 
environed, betook themselves to the shelter of a wall, and 
fought with the desperation of men contending for their lives ; 
while the Indians, from behind every fence, tree, or rock, kept 
up an incessant firing. The English were finally relieved 
from their perilous situation by the arrival of a sloop, which 
came near the shore and took them off, protecting their em- 
barkation by her fire. But when Church, the last man, was 
about to go on board, he bethought himself that he had left 
bis hat and cutlass at the well where he had drank ; and, 
declaring that he would never leave them as trophies for the 
Indians, loaded hLs gun with all the powder he had left, " (and 
a poor charge it was,)" marched boldly up the shore, and 
brought them off. One bullet grazed his hair, another hit a 
small stake just before his breast, and two more struck the 
canoe as he paddled to the sloop. 

After some indecisive skirmishes, the English forces united, 
and, with considerable loss, drove Philip and his warriors into 
a great swamp at Pocasset. Their camp, consisting of a hun- 
dred new wigwams, was found deserted in the vicinity. 
Church, who, had he been permitted, at this time could prob- 
ably have ended the war by a close pursuit of his enemy, was 
.continually thwarted and embarrassed by the tardiness and 



620 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

indecision of his associates. Though actively engnged in 
fighting the Indians, he protested with vehement indignation 
against the treacherous policy of his government, which trans- 
ported as slaves a great number of prisoners who had surren- 
dered under fair promises. 

A party under Captain Henchman, supported by Uncas, 
the Mohegan sachem, defeated Philip, with a loss of thirty 
of his warriors, and compelled him to fly to the westward. 
Here he was successful in exciting the native tribes to hos- 
tility, and many more of the whites were killed, and sev- 
eral flourishing towns were laid in ashes. In Brookfield, 
Captain Wheeler, besieged, with seventy persons, many of 
them women and children, in a single building, held out for two 
days against several hundred of the savages, who used every 
effort to burn the dwelling and destroy its inmates. They 
were finally relieved by a party under Major Willard, and the 
Indians drew off, after losing, it is said, eighty of their num- 
ber. They joined Philip and his warriors. 



CHAPTER X. 

SUCCESS OF THE INDIANS ATTACK ON HADLEY GOFFE, THE REGICIDE 

MANY TOWNS BURNED DESTRUCTION OF THE NARRAGANSETT 

FORT GREAT CRUELTY TO THE INDIANS THEIR REVENGE AND 

TRIUMPH CAPTURE OF CANONCHET HIS HEROIC END. 

From this time, an almost continual succession of Indian 
attacks and massacres occurred, and town after town was laid 
in ashes. Aided by the continually exciting causes of enmity, 
developed by war with a foe so indefinite as the Indians, 
Philip had succeeded in awaking a general hostility among 
the numerous tribes of the frontier. It is supposed that lie 
was present at many of the scenes of midnight assault and 
massacre which, at this time, filled New England with alarm: 




Cai't. Bi.nja.min Ciiiiui 







ruh: voLo.yisTs aoixu ro r h v m ii .UiMEV 

DIKIM* THE PKKlnl) OV THE KAKI.V INDIAN WAHS. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 521 

but it is certain tliat Le was seldom recognised. Once, it is 
said, he was seen at a successful attack, riding on a black 
liorse, leaping fences, and exulting in the scene of destruction ; 
and again, that he once ordered an arm-chair to be brought 
forth, that he might enjoy at his ease the conflagration of a 
village. 

A grand assault was made on Deerfield and Iladlcy, on the 
1st of September, and the former town was mostly destroyed. 
The people of Iladley, at this time, were engaged in worship 
at their meeting-house, with their arms by their sides, as usual 
in those troublous times. Surprised by the unexpected and 
furious attack of the savages, they would probabl_y have been 
cut to pieces, but for the appearance of an extraordinary per- 
sonage. An old man, with long white hair, dressed in the 
ancient costume, suddenly came forward, and took command 
of the panic-stricken congregation. He maintained a skilful 
defence until the enemy were put to flight, and then disap- 
peared as mysteriously as he came. 

This angel, as he was supposed to be by many, was no other 
than old Major-General Goffe, one of the judges of Charles I., 
who, with his companion, Whalley, for more than ten years 
had lain concealed in the cellar of Mr. Eussell, the minister 
of Hadley. There are few incidents in history more striking 
than that of the old soldier, so long immured in this dis- 
mal habitation, roused once more, by the clash of arms and 
the discharge of musketry, to mingle, for the last time, in the 
half-forgotten scenes of combat, and then to shrink back for 
ever into the gloom and twilight of his subterranean abode. 

Ten men were killed in Northfield, and thirty-six, dis- 
patched to relieve that town, were mostly cut off by an am- 
bush. An hundred of the finest young men of the country, 
inarching under Captain Lathrop, to Deerfield, were attacked 
by an overwhelming force of Indians, and all, except seven or 
eight, after desperate fighting, were slain. Thirty houses were 
burned at Springfield, together with the "brave library "of 
Eev. Pelatiah Glover. This collection, very valuable, it is 



522 NORTU AND SOUTH AMKIUCA. 

probable, for the day, had been sent off to a place of safety; 
"but the said minister, a great student, and an helhio librorum,^ 
being impatient for want of his books, brought them back, to 
his great sorrow, for a bonfire for the proud insulting enemy. 
Of all the mischiefs done by the said enemy before that day, 
the burning of this said tovyn of Springfield did more than 
any other discover the said actors to be the children of the 
devil, full of all subtilty and malice,"t &c., seeing that for 
forty years, they had been on good terms with the whites. 

In October, an attempt was made on Hatfield by seven or 
eight hundred Indians in a body; but the garrison and towns- 
folk, under ^Nlajor Appleton, and Captains Mosely and Poole, 
made a stout resistance, and finally beat them off. During the 
winter, few engagements of any importance occurred in the 
western outskirts; the Indians, for want of shelter and provi- 
sion, sufiering miserably, and Philip, with his chief warriors, it is 
supposed, taking refuge in the country of the Narragansetts, 

An agreement for the active prosecution of the war was 
now made by the united colonies, and it was resolved tliat the 
Narragansetts, who had sheltered the families of the hostile 
tribes, should be made the first example of vengeance. On 
the afternoon of December 19th, the English forces, about five 
hundred in number, under command of Josias Winslow, gov- 
ernor of Plymouth, arrived at the chief fortress of the devoted 
tribe. It was situated in a vast swamp, upon an elevated 
ground of five or six acres, and contained, it is said, six hun- 
dred wigwams. The trunk of a great tree, fiillen in the 
swamp, afforded the only means of access. 

Across this narrow causeway, the English, with great loss, 
made their way, and a desperate battle, lasting for several 
hours, took place within the palisades. Church, who accom- 
panied the expedition as a volunteer, fought with his accus- 
tomed bravery, and was severely wounded. He vainly remon- 
strated against the burning of the fort, in which his superiors 
persisted, and which proved the cause not only of an outrage 
* Book-dfvourer. j lliibh.-inl's Tiidi.ui W.irs. 



settt,e:ment of new England. 523 

ons destruction of its liclpless tenants, but of severe suffering 
Jiiid loss to tlie English themselves. It was fired, and the 
dreadful tragedy of Groton was once more enacted. The set- 
tlement was populous in the extreme, and great numbers of 
feeble old men, and of women and children, perished in the 
blazing wigwams.* On this terrible day, fell seven hundred 
of the bravest Narragansett warriors, and three hundred 
more are said to have afterwards died of their wounds. "The 
number of old men, women, and children that perished either 
l)v fire, or that were starved with hunger or cold, none could 
tell."t 

Eight}^ of the English were slain, and an hundred and fifty 
wounded; and the remainder, having destroyed the wigwams 
which might have afforded them protection, were compelled to 
march eighteen miles, in a terribly cold and snowy night, 
before they could reach a place of shelter and refreshment. 
l\{any perished on the way. The miserable remains of the 
defeated tribe took shelter among the Nipmucks. Great cruelty 
seems to have been exercised toward the Indian prisoners, if 
we may judge by the fate of one who was found in a barn, and 
who, "after he was brought to head-quarters, would own noth- 
ing but what was forced out of his mouth by the woolding of 
his head with a cord, wherefore he was presently judged to die 
as a Wampanoag,":}: 

Despite this fearful scene of suffering and destruction, the 
Indians, still numerous, were not long without their revenge. 

* Tliis terribl'j scene, "the deiith-ngony of a whole community," is described 
by a contemporary author, (Rev. William Hubbard,) in terms of the most 
barbarous and pitiless levity. "They were ready," he says, "to dress their 
dinner, but our sudden and unexpected assault put them beside that work, 
m.iking tlieir cook-rooms too hot for them at that time, when they and tlieir 
mitcliiii fried together: And probably some of them eat tlieir suppers in a 
colder place that night: Most of tlieir provisions as well as huts being con- 
sumed by fire, and those that were left alive forced to hide themselves in a 
cedar swamp, not far off, where they had nothing to defend them from the 
cold but boughs of spruce and pine trees." — Hubbard's Indian Wars. 
f Hubbard. J lad. 



524 NORTH AND SOUTH A^rEllICA. 

The brave Canonclict,* the young sachem of the Xarragan setts, 
in the midst of the ruin of his tribe and the shiughter or dis- 
persion of his warriors, still maintained a brave and undaunted 
attitude of defiance. He had magnanimously declared that he 
"would not deliver up a Wampanoag, nor the paring of a 
Waiupanoag's nail," and defeat and disaster only kindled in 
his mind fresh courage and desire for vengeance. He retreated 
to the westward, where Philip had already taken refuge, a;;d 
with him planned fresh and terrible schemes of successful 
reprisal. In February, the towns of Lancaster and Medfield 
were burned, and nearly an hundred of the English were killed 
or carried into captivity. On retreating from the latter place 
(which is only. twenty miles from Boston) the victorious sav- 
ages left a paper, written by some of their number who had 
received education, to the following haughty effect: 

"Know, by this paper, that the Indians whom thou hast 
provoked to wrath and anger will war this 21 years, if you 
will. There are many Indians yet. We come 300 at this 
time. You must consider the Indians lose nothing but their 
life : You must lose your fair houses and cattle." 

In this and the following month, toAvn after town was de- 
stroyed by the indefatigable foe. Thirty houses in Providence 
were burned, and a part of Weymouth, only eleven miles from 
Boston, was destroyed. Two companies, each of fifty men, 
under Captains Pierce and Wadsworth, were successively 
"swallowed up" by the triumphant enemy against whom they 
had been sent. The prospects of the English appeared gloomy 
in the extreme, when Philip's fortunes, for a time so brilliantly 
successful, suddenly received a check. 

His ally, the brave and magnanimous Canonchet, who had 
under his command a force of many hundred men, venturing, 
with a few warriors, to the eastward, in quest of seed-corn for 
their plantations, was captured and shot at Stonington. He 

* He was the son of the brave but unfortunate Miantonimo, murdered hy 
his enemy Uncas, by permission and approval of the colonial authoritieH and 
clergy. 



I 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 525 

refused to purchase his life by procuring the submission of his 
injured tribe, and met his death with the highest courage and 
fortitude — a true patriot, and a liero, whose soul, to judge by 
his brief sayings, seemed cast in almost a classical mould. 
"This," says Mr. Hubbard, "was the confusion of a damned 
Avretch, that had often opened his mouth to blaspheme the 
name of the living God, and those that make profession thereof. 
He was told at large of his breach of faith, and how he boasted 
tliat he would not deliver up a Wampanoag, nor the paring of a 
Wampanoag's nail, that he would burn the English alive in 
their houses ; to which he replied, others were as forward for 
the loar as himself and that he desired to hear no more thereof 
And when he was told his sentence was to die, he said, he liked 
it loell, that he shoidd die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken 
any thing unworthy of himself He told the English before 
the}'' put him to death that the killing him would not end the war,' 
but it was a considerable step thereunto." 



CHAPTER XI. 

Philip's war, continued — fighting — gradual REDUCfiON of the 

INDIANS CHURCH COMMISSIONED HE ENLISTS INDIAN SOLDIERS 

PURSUES PHILIP DEFEATS HIJI FLIGHT OF PHILIP HIS DISTRESS. 

During the spring of 1676, the war raged furiously and 
with alternate success. A portion of Plymouth as well as of 
other towns was burned, and several desperate actions, result- 
ing in great loss to both parties, occurred. But the forces of 
Philip suffered most from cold and hunger: and from their 
roving way of life, and its attendant privations, became grad- 
ually worn out and disheartened. Accompanied by.his bravest 
warriors, he returned to his old haunts, and took up his quar- 
ters near Narragansett Bay. A body of cavalry, from Con- 
necticut, under ]\rajor Talcott, accompanied by a force of Mo- 
hegans, now did very effective service against him. On one 



526 NOETH AND SOUTH AMEiJCA. 

occasion, this force, besides killing a great number of the ene- 
my, took two hundred prisoners — one of whom, to their eternal 
disgi-acc, they permitted their allies to put to death with all 
the refinements of savage cruelty. "The English," says Mr. 
Hubbard, "at this time were not unwilling to gratify their 
humour, lest by a denial they might disoblige their Indian 
friends; partly also tliat they might have an ocular demonstration 
of the savage barbarous cruelty of the heathen''— in short, to gratify 
their rascally curiosity. The fortitude of the brave victim (" a 
sprightly young fellow," says the narrative) proved superior 
to all the infernal arts of his tormentors. He bore them with- 
out flinching to the last, and when asked how he liked the war, 
answered that "he liked it well, and found it as sweet as the 
Englishmen's sugar." 

The condition of the Indians grew daily more forlorn and 
desperate. Many migrated westward, and five or six hundred 
surrendered, on a somewhat equivocal proclamation of mercy. 
But Philip and his warriors still held out boldly; the mortal 
terror of Indian hostility still hung like a cloud over the set- 
tlements; and the authorities of Plymouth at last turned their 
eyes to Captain Church, whose courage and sagacity in these 
wars had won for him so high a reputation. During a portion 
of the year he had been actively engaged with the enemy, and 
for several months, had been laid up with wounds and illness. 
The narrative of his adventures, during the various enterprises in 
which he had been engaged, is interesting and often exceedingly 
amusing, but rather too personal to pertain to history.* The 

* He records (by the pen of his son) a singular contest in the dark, mari- 
aged after a very primitive fashion, with a fugitive prisoner, wlio "seized liim 
fast by the hair of his head, and endeavored by twisting to break his neck. 
Bnt though Mr. Church's wounds had somewhat weakened him, (and tiie 
Indian a stout fellow,) yet he held him in play, and twisted the Indian's neck 
ns well, and took the advantage of many opportunities, while they hung by 
each others' hair, to give him notorious bunts in the face with his head^ 'J'lio 
scuffle was at last ended by the tomahawk of a friendly Indian, who, cori;i; g 
up felt carefully for the right head, and having found it, sunk his weapon iiuo 
t!;c brain of his countryman. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 02 I 

authorities now adopted his plan for a vigorous campaign, and 
he set himself busily at work to gain over a force of Indian allies. 

With a single companion he set off boldly for the Indian 
country, and first landed on the territory of the Sogkonates, (at 
that time in league with Philip.) Almost immediately he was 
surrounded by a crowd of grim-looking warriors, armed to the 
teeth, who sprang up as if by magic from the long grass in 
which they had been concealed. The old friendship of Awa- 
shonks, their queen, prevented him from receiving any imme- 
diate harm, and he opened the negotiation like a man well 
versed in Indian character and habits. The scene, as a speci- 
men of original diplomacy, is amusing. 

"Mr. Church" (says his semi-autobiography) "pulled out his 
calabasli, and asked Awashonks whether she had lived so long 
at Wachuset as to forget to drink occapeches?" (spirits). For 
some time, (whether from distrust or a fear of too hastily com- 
mitting herself) she was reluctant to taste it, although, to set 
her the example, "he drank a good swig, which indeed was 
no more than he needed." As she still refused, the captain 
'' handed it to a little ill-looking fellow, who catched it readily 
enough, and as greedily would have swallowed the liquor when 
he had it at his mouth. But Mr. Church catched him by the 
throat and took it from him, asking him whether he intended 
to swallow shell and all? and then handed it to Awashonks. 
She ventured to take a good hearty dram, and passed it amoiig 
her attendants. The shell being emptied, he pulled out his 
tobacco; and having distributed it, they began to talk." 

Despite this primitive conviviality, his life seemed hardly 
worth a minute's purchase among these fierce savages, with 
many of whom, so little time before, he had been at deadly 
warfare. Mention being made of the fight at Punkatoes, 
"there at once arose a mighty murmur, confused noise and 
talk among the fierce-looking creatures, and all rising up in a 
hubbub. And a great surly-looking fellow took up his tom- 
hog, or wooden cutlass, to kill \[r. Church, but some othem 
prevented him." 



528 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

"He sfiys," explained the interpreter, "tiiat you killed Lis 
brother at Puukatees, and therefore he thirsts for j^our blood." 
But the captain boldl}'' replied that if his brother had staid at 
home, he would have been safe enough ; and by his persuasion 
so wrought on their minds that at last, "the chief Captain rose 
up and expressed the great value and respect he had for Mr. 
Church ; and bowing to him said, ' Sir, if you will please to 
accept of me and ni}^ men, and will head us, we will fight for 
you, and will help you to Philip's head before the Indian corn 
be ripe.'" 

Having obtained his authority from Plymouth, Church, with 
a few companions, proceeded along the sea-coast, beyond Sand- 
wich, where he expected to find his allies. As they approached 
a wide sand-beach, "hearing a great noise below them, towards 
the sea, they dismounted their horses; left them, and creeped 
among the bushes, until they came near the bank, and saw a 
vast company of Indians, of all ages and sexes ; some on horse- 
back running races; some at football; some catching eels and 
flatfish in the water; some clamming, &c. ; but which way, with 
safety, to find out what Indians they were, tliey were at a loss." 
A shrill whoop was finally given from the thicket; two 
70ung warriors well mounted galloped up ; and Church was 
joyously welcomed by all. A grand entertainment was made 
by Awashonks, and at evening "a mighty pile of pine knots 
and tops" was set on fire. The whole tribe gathered around 
it, and a strange (and what Mather would probably have called 
" diabolicall ") ceremony was performed. Chief after chief 
would step out, armed with spear and hatchet, naming one by 
one all the hostile tribes, and each would "fight the fire," "if 
possible, with more fury than the first." This mysterious per- 
formance, they told Church, "was all one as swearing them" 
in his service. 

The desertion of these warriors, in whom he had so confi- 
dently trusted, we are told ''broke Philip's heart as soon as 
ever he understood it, so as he never rejoiced after, or had anjr 
success in any of his designs." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 529 

The captain cliose from among them a goodly number of 
warriors, and with these and with his EngHsh forces, under 
commission of the governor of Plymouth, he forthwith com- 
menced an active campaign against the enemy (July, 1676). 
With indefatigable activity, he scoured the forests in all direc- 
tions, killing and making captive great numbers of the hostile 
confederates. In the midst of this uncompromising warfare, 
we find him exhibiting a humanity and good faith uncommon 
ft the time, using every exertion to prevent torture and cru- 
elty, and vehemently protesting against any ill usage of the 
natives who surrendered. Once he fell in with Little Ej^es, 
(who would have killed him at Awashonk's dance) and his 
Indians wished him to be revenged. "But the captain told 
them it was not Englishmen's fashion to seek revenge," and 
took especial care for his safety and protection. 

Whenever he took any number of the Indians, he would 
select the finest as soldiers, and enlist them in his company ; 
judging, with perfect confidence, that they would soon be com- 
pletely won over to his interest. "If he perceived that they 
looked surly, and his Indian soldiers called them treacherous 
dogs, as some of them would sometimes, all the notice he 
would take of it, would only be to clap them on the back, and 
tell them 'Come, come, you look wild and surly, and mutter, 
but that signifies nothing; these my best soldiers were, a little 
while ago, as wild and surly as you are now; by the time you 
have been but one day along with me, you will love me too, 
and be as brisk as any of them.' And so it proved;" for, what 
with his bravery and success, the fascination of his manner, and 
his thorough acquaintance with the Indian character, all whom 
he thus singularly recruited, became devoted to his service. 
Any "notorious rogue and murderer," indeed, who fell into 
his hands, he was accustomed to put to death without mercy 
— allowing them, however, the privilege of enjoying, with true 
Indian stoicism, a pipe of tobacco, before the tomahawk sank 
into their brains. 

As he pursued the retreating enemy into the Narragansett 
34 



530 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

country, lie came to Taunton river, over which the Indians 
had felled a large tree for the purpose of crossing. On the 
stump, at the opposite side, sat a solitary warrior. Church 
quietly raised his gun, but was prevented from firing by the 
suggestion that it was a friend. The Indian, aroused by the 
noise, looked up. It was Philip himself, musing drearily, no 
doubt, on the fallen fortunes of his race. Ere a gun could 
again be levelled he sprang up, and bounded like a deer into 
the forest. 

Crossing the river. Church hotly followed the track of the 
fugitives, and captured many of their women and children — 
among them, the wife and child of the great sachem himself. 
At last he came up with the main force of the enemy, encamped 
in a swamp. They were defeated, though not without sharp 
fighting; an hundred and seventy-three Indians, in all, were 
taken; but Philip, with his chief warriors, made good his 
escape. The prisoners reported the condition of their sachem 
as forlorn in the extreme, having lost friend after friend by 
war or desertion, and now inconsolable at the capture of his 
wife and child. " His ruin," says Mr. Hubbard, with 'a sort 
of slow Epicurean relish, "being thus gradually carried on, 
his misery was not prevented, but augmented thereby ; being 
himself acquainted with the sense and experimental feeling 
of the captivity of his children, loss of friends, slaughter of 
his subjects, bereavement of all family relations, and being 
stripped of all outward comforts, before his own life should 
be taken away." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 531 



CHAPTER XII. 

PHILIP RETREATS TO MOUNT HOPE SLAIN IN A SKIRMISH DISGRACEFUL 

USAGE OF HIS REMAINS CHURCH PURSUES ANNAWON TAKES HIM 

SINGULAR SCENE PHILIp's REGALIA THE AVAR ENDED 

ITS RESULT — TREATMENT OF PRISONERS PHILIP's 

SON REFLECTIONS. 

After performing further active services in the war, Church, 
almost broken down with fatigue and exposure, went to see 
his wife on Ehode Island; but hardly had he alighted, when 
tidings came that Philip was lurking in his old quarters at 
Mount Hope, and the captain, a greeting hardly exchanged, 
again mounted his horse, and spurred off. 

The unhappy sachem, after seeing his followers, one after 
another, fall before the English, or desert his failing cause, had 
betaken himself, like some wild animal hard driven by the 
hunters, to his ancient haunt, the former residence of his father, 
the friendly Massasoit. In all the pleasant region washed by 
the circling Narragansett, there is no spot more beautiful than 
that miniature mountain, the home of the old sachems of the 
Wampanoags. But with what feelings the last of their num- 
ber, a fugitive before inveterate foes and recreant followers, 
looked on the pleasant habitation of his fathers, may more 
easily be imagined than described. Still, he sternly rejected 
all proposals for peace, and even slew one of his own followers, 
who had ventured to speak of treaty with the English. The 
brother of this victim, naturally enraged and alienated from 
his cause, at once deserted to the English, and gave the in- 
formation which led to his final ruin. 

A few brave warriors yet remained faithful to him, and with 
these, and their women and children, he had taken refuge in a 
swamp hard by the mountain, on a little spot of rising ground. 
In that troubled night, the last of his life, the sachem, we r.re 



5S2 XUUTII AND SOUTH AMEKICA. 

told, had dreamed of his beti'aj'al,* and awaking early, was 
recounting the vision to his companions, when the enemy- 
came suddenly upon him. His old enemy, Church, who was 
familiar with the ground, coming up quietly in the darkness 
of night, had posted his followers, both English and Indian, so 
as, if possible, to prevent any from escaping. The result was 
almost immediate. After several volleys had been rapidly 
fired, Philip, attempting to gain a securer position, came in 
range of an ambush, and was instantly shot through the heart 
by one Alderman, an Indian under Church's command. He 
fell on his face with his gun under him, and died without a 
struggle (August 12, 1676). The relics of his force still held 
out in the swamp, and one of the warriors, " who seemed to be 
a great surly old fellow, hallooed with a loud voice, and often 
called out, ' lootash ! lootash P Captain Church called to his 
Indian, Peter, and asked him who that was that called so? 
"He answered that it was old Annawon, Philip's great captain, 
calling on his soldiers to stand to it, and fight stoutly."f This 
chief, with most of his followers, made good his escape. 

Meeting in the camp of their fallen enemy, "the whole 
army (!) gave three loud huzzas." The body of the ill-fated 
Philip, still lying where it fell, was drawn out of the swamp, 
"and a doleful, great, naked, dirty beast he looked like. 
Captain Church then said, that forasmuch as he had caused 
many an Englishman's body to be unburied and to rot above 
ground, that no one of his bones should be buried. ":j: Accord- 
ingl}^, (to use the spiteful language of Cotton Mather,) "this 
Agog was now cut into quarters, which were then hanged up, 
while his head was carried in triumph to Plymouth^ where it 
arrived on the very day that the church there was keeping a 
solemn thanksgiving to God. God sent 'em the head of a 
Itviathan for a thanksgiving feast!" 

* Mr. Hubbard, for a wonder, does not fully adopt this account, but dis- 
misses it parenthetically, " (whether the devil appeared to him in a dream that 
night, as Tie didunto Saul, (!) foreboding his tragical end, it matters not,) &lc. «Sic." 

I Church's "Entertaining History." J Ibid. 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. Oo3 

The ghastly relic was long exposed in that town, an object 
of mingled horror and satisfaction to the citizens; and when 
the flesh was fallen away and the dry jaw could be rattled 
with the skull, a grave historian records with satisfaction his 
odious trifling with the remains, whi'ch, in their life-time, he 
would not have dared to ap])roacli "for all below the moon." 
The only reward allotted to the victors was a bounty of thirty 
shillings on the head of every slain Indian ; and Church, with 
some reason, coiuplaius that Philip's was rated no higher than 
the rest. The sinewy right hand of the sachem, much scarred 
by the bursting of a pistol, was given to Alderman, "to show 
to such gentlemen as would bestow gratuities vipon him; and 
accordingly he got many a penny by it."* 

Thus died Philip of Pokanoket, the last sachem of the 
Wampanoags, the originator and the head of that terrible 
confederacy which so long kept New England in dread and 
consternation, and which, at one time, seemed almost to 
threaten its entire destruction. He was, undoubtedly, a man 
far superior to the generality of his race, in boldness, sagacity, 
and policy; his powers of persuasion were extraordinary ; and 
the terrifying results of his enmity sufficiently evince the am- 
bitious nature of his scheme, and the genius with which it was 
conducted. The division and barbarous exposure of his re- 
mains entailed disgrace, not on him, but on the authors of the 
profanation; his sufferings and the injuries of his family have 
awakened in succeeding generations somewhat of that sympathy 
which is always due to misfortune; and though the defeated 
leader of a ruined confederation, his name, more than that of 
any other of the Indian race, has always excited the interest, 
if not the admiration, of mankind. 

Ere long, the indefatigable Church, who never knew rest 
while an enemy was in the field, was again on the track of 
Annawon and the few warriors who still remained a terror to 
the settlements. That renowned chieftain, " a very subtle man, 
of great resolution, had often said that he would never be 

* Church's "Entertaining History." 



534 NORTH AXD SOUTH AMERICA. 

taken alive by the Englisli;" and tlie captain felt that the war 
was not ended so long as he roved the country — "never roost- 
ing twice in one place," and ready to rekindle hostility among 
the distant tribes. After wearisome scouting, he took an old In- 
dian, who, to save his own life, agreed to guide him to the ene- 
my's encampment. But when asked by Church to take a gun, 
the captive "bowed very low, and prayed hira not to impose 
such a thing upon him as to fight against Captain Anna won, his 
old friend." No time was to be lost, and the captain, with 
wonderful audacity, at once set forth, taking with him only half 
a dozen Indians, to attempt the capture of this redoubted war- 
rior and his whole force. In the darkness of night they 
stealthily approached his camp, which was pitched in a swamp, 
under a great ledge of rocks. Peeping over the edge, through 
the bushes. Church beheld a scene, the very picture of savage 
comfort and security. Eude and temporary wigAvams had 
been made of brush, spits were roasting, kettles boiling, and 
great fires were burning to dispel the chillness of the night and 
the dampness of the surrounding region. An old squaw was 
pounding corn in a mortar, and all the warriors, half covered 
by the shelter of their huts, were sleeping quietly around the 
various fires. Old Annawon and his son were lying side 
by side, with the arms of the whole company stacked near 
their heads. 

With that stealthy quietness peculiar to Indians and Indian- 
fighters, Church and his little company gradually lowered 
themselves by the bushes which grew in the crevices of the 
rocks. When the squaw pounded, they would slowly move, 
and when she stopped, they kept as still as death. In this 
cautious manner, they gradually worked their way down, and 
Church, tomahawk in hand, stepped over the chief and secured 
the pile of arms. Old Annawon, startled by his step, sat up, 
crying " Howah !" but seeing the weapons lost, lay down again, 
resigned to his fate. The captain's Indians now mingled with 
the surprised warriors at the other fires, told them that Captain 
Church, with his whole army, was upon them, and assured 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 535 

them there was no hope but in surrender. Supposing resist- 
ance useless, they gave up all their weapons, even to their 
tomahawks, and yielded themselves prisoners. A more daring 
and successful surprise can hardly be found in the records of 
warlike adventure. 

"Things being so far settled. Captain Church asked Anna- 
won 'what he had for supper?' 'for' (said he) 'I am come to 
sup with you.' ' Tauhut,^ (said Annawon,) with a big voice, 
and looking about upon his women, bid them hasten and get 
Captain Church and his company some supper."* The two 
captains supped together harmoniously, and the warriors, 
learning the death of Philip, and being assured of good treat- 
ment, promised not to attempt escape. The captain was ena- 
bled to promise that the lives of all should be spared, except 
that of Annawon; and he offered to use his best exertions 
with the authorities in his behalf. 

Wearied out with long watching and pursuit, the whole 
company, except Church and Annawon, soon fell into a dead 
sleep. These two, for a long time, lay looking at each other 
by the flickering light of the embers, and at last Annawon, 
rising, walked out of sight and hearing. The captain, fearing 
he had gone for a gun to shoot him, lay closer to young Anna- 
won for protection ; but ere long the old chief returned, and 
brought two magnificent belts of wampum, with as many pow- 
der-horns, and a scarlet blanket. "Great captain," he said to 
Church, "you have killed Philip and conquered his country; 
for I believe that I and my companions are the last that war 
against the English ; and therefore these things belong to jou." 
lie then solemnly invested Church with the ornaments, "and 
told him these were Philip's royalties, which he was wont to 
adorn himself with, when he sat in state. f * * They spent 

* Church's "Entertaining Historj-." 

t These regalia, the only relics of the unfortunate house of Pokanoket, 
were preserved, for more than a century, by the descendants of Charch, 
dwelling at Sogkonatej but were finally destroyed by the accidental burning 
of a house. 



536 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the remainder of the night in discourse, and Annawon gave 
an account of what mighty success he had formerly in wars 
against many nations of Indians, when he served Asuhmequin,* 
Phihp's father."f The narrative of the old soldier, throughout 
this adventure, sounds like a fragment of Homer. 

With the capture of this redoubted chief, (whose life he 
vainly endeavored to save from the more revengeful spirit of 
the Plymouth authorities,) ends our account of Captain Church; 
but his adventures were far from being at an end; and in the 
border wars of the East, protracted for more than a quarter of 
a century longer,:}: he displayed all the qualities of a daring 
soldier, a sagacious commander, and, in general, of a man of 
feeling and humanity. 

But the great Indian war, threatening the desolation of New 
England, was entirely at an end. In that war, during a little 
more than a year and a half, thirteen towns had been laid in 
ruins, and many others partially destroyed. Six hundred 

* Massasoit. The Indians occasionally changed their names. 

f Church. 

I That Indian warfare, still raging, on the northern frontier, for more than 
fifty years after the death of Philip, had lost little of its ancient ferocity, may 
be inferred from passages in the old ballad, so long popular in New England, 
commencing — 

"Of worthy Captain I.o-newell I purpose now to sing. 
How valiantly he served his country and his king," &.c. 

It commemorates the death of the gallant captain, who, with more than 
half his company, in 1725, fell in a desperate fight with the savages, at Pig- 
wacket, on the Saco. In a sort of Homeric catalogue of the killed and 
wounded, occurs the following pathetic little allusion, suggestive of the man- 
ners of the age : 

"Our worthy Captain Lnvcwdl among them there did die; 
They killed Lieutenant Kobbins, and wounded good young Frye, 
Who was o\ir Knglish Chaplain ; he many Indians slew, 
^nd 3vme of them he. scalped (!) while bullets round him flew." 

This "good young man," (the most practical specimen of the "church- 
militant" that we reml^mber,) is certainly worthy of all credit for killing fin 
self-defence) as many of the Indians as possible; but his subsequent personal 
operations might perhaps — ^by a strict theological construction — be classed 
among " works of supererogation." 



SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 537 

dwellings had been burned, and as many Englishmen had 
been slain. The loss of the enemy, suffering not only from 
the casualties of warfare, but from the miseries of cold, naked- 
ness, and famine, had been infinitely greater. The entire 
force of the fighting tribes was broken, and many of them 
were almost extinguished. A' vast number of captives had 
been taken, and many more, hoping mercy and relief from 
their sufferings, had voluntarily surrendered. Of these the 
most noted warriors were put to death, and the remainder, 
women and children included, were reduced to slavery, or 
sold, for the same object, in the West Indies. 

In regard to the son of Philip, (a child only nine years old) the 
authorities seem to have been greatly exercised in spirit. There 
were so many nice precedents for his execution to be found in 
scripture, and securit}', as well as vengeance, would be satisfied 
by the destruction of the whole house of their dreaded enemy. 
Nothing can better show the venomous spirit of the times, 
or the depraving influence of a barbarous theology, than the 
following extract from a letter, written by liev. Increase bla- 
ther, the minister of Boston, to his friend Mr. Cotton : 

"If it had not been out of my mind, when I was writing, 
I should have said something about Philip's sou. It is Pieces- 
sary that some effectual course should be taken about lain. He 
makes me tJiinh of Iladad, who ivas a little child luhen la's father 
{the chief sachem of the Edomites) was killed bt/ Joab; and had 
not others fled away with him, I am apt to think, that David 
would have taken a course that Iladad should never have 
proved a scourge to the next generation." More humane 
counsels, however, prevailed, and the poor child was. only 
shipped as a slave to Bermuda. 

Incidents such as these, commonly suppressed by popular 
writers, are not uselessly recalled, in obtaining a just view of 
the spirit of the past. With all honor to the truly-great and 
respectable qualities of our New England ancestors — to their 
courage, their constancy, their morality, and their devotion — 
it is useless to disguise the fact that, in the grand essentials of 



538 KOIiTU AXD SOUTH, AMERICA. 

cliarity and humanity, they were no wise in advance of their 
age, and in the less essential, but not less desirable articles of 
amenity and magnanimity, most decidedly behind it. But a 
certain infusion of disagreeable qualities seems almost an 
inseparable constituent of that earnestness^ which alone can 
successfully contend with great obstacles, either human or 
natural — with civil tyranny and religious persecution — with 
the privations and dangers of the wilderness, and the unspar- 
ing enmity of its savage inhabitants. 

The communities, founded by men thus strongly, but im- 
perfectly moulded, have, with the genial influence of time, 
and by the admirable elements of freedom contained in their 
origin, gradually grown into a commonwealth, freer from the 
errors which disgraced their founders than any other on the 
face of the earth. Their prejudice has become principle, their 
superstition has refined into religion ; and their very bigotry 
has softened down to liberality. While enjoying the results 
of this ameliorating process, their descendants may well be 
charitable to those whose footsteps not only broke through the 
tangled recesses of the actual forest, but who, in treading 
pathways through the moral wilderness, occasionally stumbled, 
or left behind them a track too rugged or too tortuous to be 
followed. 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



CHAPTER I. 

DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI FATHER MARQUETTE AND M. JOLIET 

THEIR EXPEDITION FRIENDLY INDIANS SAIL DOWN THE WISCONSIN 

ENTER THE MISSISSIPPI THE ILLINOIS INDIANS DISCOVERY OF 

THE MISSOURI THE OHIO " PAINTED MONSTERs" — ^DANGER 

FROM SAVAGES THEY APPROACH THE SEA RETURN BY 

THE ILLINOIS DEATH OF MARQUETTE. 

The great river Mississippi, as we have seen, was probably 
first discovered by Alvar Nunez, a survivor of the unfortu- 
nate expedition of Narvaez. In the year 1541, Hernando de 
Soto, on his memorable Invasion of Florida, crossed it, as 
would appear, at the Chickasaw Bluffs. He died the next year, 
and the remainder of his followers, building vessels on the 
banks, set sail down the river in 1543, and finally reached 
Llexico by sea. For an hundred and thirty years, nothing 
further was known of this majestic stream, the longest and 
most important in the world. Its further exploration and 
survey were due to the enterprise and patient courage of the 
Canadian French. 

Reports, from time to time, had reached their capital of a 
great river in the west; and opinions were divided as to its 
course and the point where it was discharged into the 
ocean. Some held that it flowed into the Gulf of CaUfornia ; 
others that it must disembogue on the coast of Virginia; and 
others, with more reason, contended that its exit could only 
be in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1673, under the auspices of M. 



540 NORTH AN"1) SOL- Til A.MEi;ICA, 

de Frontenac, the governor of Canada, two daring individuals 
undertook the task of its survey. The first, Father Mar- 
quette, was a missionary of great zeal and piety, intimately 
acquainted with the native tribes, and a proficient in many of 
their languages. His companion, M. Joliet, was a citizen of 
Quebec. 

On the 13th of May, with five other Frenchmen, they left 
Michilimackinac in two canoes, and first passed the tribes of 
the Folhs Avoines, or Wild Rice, so called from the grain 
which was their chief subsistence. These friendly people 
attempted to dissuade the adventurers from their purpose by 
fearful accounts of the dangers of the river, of the savage 
tribes which dwelt on its banks, and of the terrible monsters 
(alligators). who swarmed in that region of heat into which it 
flowed. But the good father replied that he had no fear of 
the monsters, and that he would gladly lay down his life to 
secure the salvation of souls in that distant region. 

Pushing on, the voyagers arrived at Green Bay, in the 
north-west of Lake Michigan, and ascended the Fox River, 
which flows into it. On this river dwelt the Miamis, and 
other nations, already in a measure converted by the exertions 
of a pious missionary, the worthy Father Allouez. So eager 
were they for instruction, that they would hardly allow him 
to repose at night. In the centre of their chief village, Mar- 
quette found a large cross, decorated with offerings to the 
Great Spirit, in thankfulness for their success in the chase. No 
where has the benign influence of Christianity made its way 
with such rapidity, or with such pleasing and appropriate cir- 
cumstances, as among the rude but kindly tribes of the north- 
west, under the genial influence and indefatigable exertions 
of the ancient French missionaries. 

From this river (June 10th) two guides conducted the 
Frenchmen to a portage, and assisted them to carry their canoes 
to another stream, which, they were told, would lead tliem to 
the Great River. This stream was called the Mcscousin, 
(Wisconsin,) and was quite broad, but shallow, and dillioulfc 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 541 

of nav^igation. Deer and buffaloes were seen upon the banks. 
For forty leagues they paddled downward, and on the 17th, 
to their great joy, entered the majestic "Father of Waters."* 

For sixty leagues more they descended, without seeing a 
trace of human habitation. Toward evening they would kin- 
dle a fire to cook their food, and anchor, during the night, for 
safety, in the middle of the stream. On the 25th they saw 
foot-prints on the bank, and the two associates, landing, walked 
inland, through a path in the beautiful prairie, for two leagues. 
They then came upon three villages of the Illinois, where 
they were received with much hospitality. The name of this 
people had the proud and simple signification of " J/en," as if 
they were, pai' excellence^ the representatives of the human race, 
or, like the Greek Autochthones , the original offspring of the 
earth. Their language was a dialect of the great Algonquin 
family, and was easily understood by Father Marquette. The 
pipe of peace was solemnly smoked, and presents were inter- 
changed. The visitors returned to their canoes on the following 
day, accompanied, with every token of pleasure and good- will, 
by more than six hundred of their entertainers. 

The}^ again embarked, and pursued their course down stream, 
looking out for the great river Pekitanoni, or Missouri, of which 
they had already learned the existence. On the face of a lofty 
precipice they saw the figures of "two monsters," painted in 
green, red, and blue, and so well executed that it seemed doubt- 
ful if they could be the work of savages. These effigies are, 
or recently were, still in existence. "What they call Painted 
Monsters^''^ says Major Stoddard (1812), "on the side of a high 
perpendicular rock, apparently inaccessible to man, between 
the Missouri and Illinois, and known to the moderns by the 
name of Piesa^ still remain in a good degree of preservation." 

As they floated downward, a rush of water was heard in the 
distance, and, ere long, their frail barks were whirled along in 
the muddy current of the Missouri, which, carrying great 
masses of drift-wood on its turbid flood, rushed furiously into 

• Meate Chassipi, the original Indian name of the river, has this signification. 



642 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the clearer and more placid waters of the Mississippi. In the 
map drawn by Father Marquette, he places, on this river, a 
village called "Oumissouri," whence the stream derives its 
modern name. Seeing that the river, despite this accession, 
still held its course to the southward, he justly concluded that 
its outlet could be no where except in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Passing a formidable ledge of rocks, (believed by the Indians 
to be the habitation of a demon,) the voyagers came to the mouth 
of the Ouabouskigou, (Ohio) a great river, debouching from the 
eastward. They now began to find reeds or canes growing ou 
the shore, and were grievously annoyed by the musquetoes — 
an annoyance still formidable, even at the present day. 

To their surprise they now beheld savages, armed with 
muskets, upon the shore, and the father, lifting his calumet in 
token of peace, joined them and entered their dwellings. Their 
arms and other European articles, they told him, had been 
purchased of white men from the East. They also informed 
him that he was within ten days' journey of the sea. He made 
these people presents of medals, and gave them what instruc- 
tion he could in Christianity. 

Eenewing his voyage, the undaunted missionary pressed 
southward, through vast forests, stretching along the banks on 
either hand; and, about the thirty-third degree of latitude, 
came to an Indian village called Metchigamea. Here the people 
stood on the shore or paddled their canoes, with their weap- 
ons in a hostile attitude, and the French would undoubtedly 
have perished, but for the talismanic calumet, the sign of peace, 
which the worthy father held up to them. He gave them some 
religious instruction, and then proceeded ten leagues down the 
river to a village called Akamsca (Arkansas). The language 
of this people was so excessively uncouth, that the father des- 
paired of pronouncing a single word of it; but by the aid of 
an interpreter, who understood Illinois, he learned that the sea 
was distant only five days' journey. (The distance, in reality, 
was much greater.) Some of the fiercer spirits of the tribe, in 
a secret council, proposed to murder the little band of stran- 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 543 

gers, and to seize their goods, but were overruled by the more 
benevolent chief. 

The adventurers now concluded that the main object of their 
expedition was accomplished, the debouchment of the river 
into the Gulf being sufficiently ascertained. They feared that 
by venturing to the sea, they might fall into the hands of the 
Spaniards, whose cruelties to all strangers, especially to such 
as ventured among their possessions in the New World, had 
been so often tragically tested. Accordingly they left Akam- 
sca, and slowly reascending against the current, came to the 
Illinois river. This afforded them an easier route to Lake 
Michigan, where they arrived in September, having, in four 
mouths, accomplished an almost unprecedented feat of explo- 
ration. The distance traversed exceeded two thousand five 
hundred miles, and a vast accession had been made to geo- 
graphical knowledge. 

Father Marquette drew up a brief narrative of the expedi- 
tion, accompanied by a map, still extant, which represents all 
the great features of his route with tolerable distinctness. 
Indifferent to renown, and zealously occupied with the salva- 
tion of souls, he again took his way to the wilderness, and 
busied himself as a missionary among the Miamis. Death soon 
overtook him in his pious pilgrimage. On the 18th of May, 
1675, coasting in his canoe along the eastern shore of Lake 
Michigan, he entered a small river. Here he landed, built an 
altar, and performed the mass, saying that his voyage, he 
beheved, was destined to end there. He then retired into the 
wood, desiring his two companions to leave him alone for the 
space of half an hour. At the end of that time they made search, 
and found the good father, his presentiment fulfilled, lying 
quietly dead in the shade of the eternal forest. In this obscure, 
but not unfitting manner, perished a man, illustrious for his 
courage, endurance, and enterprise, and endeared to remem- 
brance by his pious and philanthropic labors for the souls of 
his fellow-men. 



644 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

LA SALLF. — UNDERTAKES TO SURVEY THE MISSISSIPPI DELAYED BY 

MUTINY COMPLETES THE ENTERPRISE SAILS FROM FRANCE 

MISSES THE OUTLET — ENTERS THE BAY OF ST. BERNARD 

UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO FOUND A COLONY LA SALLE 

MURDERED BY HIS FOLLOWERS DISCOVERIES OF 

FATHER HENNEPIN HIS LIES LA HONTAN. 

Tired by the report of Joliet, the French, without delay, 
prepared to effect fresh discoveries. A young adventurer, 
named Robert Cavalier, sieur de la Salle, was at this time in 
Canada, engaged in the chimerical scheme of finding an over- 
land route to China, through the western wilderness. The 
village of "La Chine," (the tennuuis of his pilgrimage) still 
attests his expectation and his disappointment. He next took 
up the singular idea that the course of the Missouri might 
favor his enterprise. He sailed forthwith to France, and by 
the favor of the prince of Conti, obtained the means for fitting 
out an expedition. The Chevalier de Tonti, a brave officer, 
with only one arm, joined him in the undertaking. 

They set forth for Quebec, and in September, 1678, lefl that 
city, taking mth them the reverend Father Hennepin, famous 
for his discoveries, and notorious for his lies and impositions. 
The party spent two years on the great lakes, building forts 
and vessels, and carrying on a traffic for furs with the natives. 
At the end of that time (1680), La Salle, taking with him 
three priests, for the conversion of the savages, and a party of 
forty-four men, set forth to explore the Mississippi. He 
descended the Hlinois, and found a highly fertile and populous 
country, five hundred huts beinsr seen in a sinsrle villasre. The 
savages, their first apprehensions allayed, were friendly and 
hospitable. 

The cowardice and criminality of many of his followers, 
however, for the time, prevented their enterprising leader from 
effectiug any considerable discovery. Averse to the expedi- 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 545 

tion, they attempted to awaken tlie jealousy of the Indians by 
assuring them that La Salle was a spy of their enemies, the 
Iroquois — and, this device failing, the murderous wretches, 
at a Christmas dinner, administered poison to him and his 
faithful adherents. By the aid of timely remedies, hoAvevei-, 
the destined victims recovered, and the treacherous villains 
Avho had attempted their Hves fled into the desert, beyond the 
reach of pursuit. Ilis force being thus reduced, the French 
leader returned to his forts for recruits, leaving Tonti in 
command of a small post on the Illinois, and dispatching 
Hennepin, with four others, to explore the sources of the 
Mississippi. 

Having collected twenty men. La Salle returned, and, on 
the 2d of February, 1682, embarked on the Mississippi, resolved 
to explore it to the outlet. Passing the Missouri and Ohio, 
he floated through the country of the Arkansas and Chicka- 
saws, and was hospitably received by the powerful tribe of the 
jSTatchez. Somewhat annoyed by the hostilities of the Quini- 
pissas, who assailed his canoes with arrows from the shore, he 
came to Tangibao, where ruined villages, and decaying heaps of 
bodies indicated the recent occurrence of savage warfare. He 
passed the mouth of Red Eiver on the 27th of March, and on 
the 7th of April, arrived at the singular region where the 
waters of the majestic Mississippi mingle with those of the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

"The country immediately around the outlet of this vast 
stream was desolate and uninteresting. Far as the eye could 
reach, swampy flats and inundated morasses filled the dreary 
])rospect. Under the ardent rays of the tropical sun, noisome 
vapors exhaled from the rank soil and sluggish waters, poison- 
ing the breezes from the southern seas, and corrupting them 
with the breath of pestilence. Masses of floating trees, whose 
large branches were scathed by months of alternate immer- 
sion and exposure, during hundreds of leagues of travel, 
choked up many of the numerous outlets of the river, and, 
cemented together by the alluvial deposits of the muddy 
85 



546 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Stream, gradually became fixed and solid, throwing up a rank 
vegetation."* 

The successful explorer, with high exultation, commemo- 
rated the completion of his achievements. A cross was 
suspended from the top of a great tree; a shield, bearing the 
arms of France, was set up; and a solemn Te Deum was sung 
in gratitude for the success of the undertaking. An attempt 
to ascertain the latitude by an observation was made, but 
proved entirely fallacious. 

The ascent of the river was made with great difficulty, on 
account of the swiftness of the current and the hostility of the 
treacherous Quinipissas. Several of these latter were slain 
in a battle, and the French, with a strange emulation of Indian 
ferocity, carried off their scalps as trophies. After several 
months of continual toil and anxiety, the adventurers arrived 
at Quebec. 

La Salle hastened to France, where the success of his brilliant 
enterprise procured him all honor and favor from the court. 
He was put in command of a squadron of four vessels, with 
two hundred and eighty men, and on the 24th of July, 1684, 
sailed fi-om La Kochelle to found a colony at the mouth of the 
Mississippi. Nothing is more difficult than to discover from 
sea the entrance even of the largest river, on an unknown 
coast, unless the jiosition has been accurately determined before- 
hand, and tliis difficulty is increased tenfold where the stream, 
like that of which he was in search, debouches, through numer- 
ous outlets, on a marshy shore. Accordingly, he missed the 
mouth of the Mississippi, and sailing two hundred miles to the 
westward, entered the bay of St. Bernard. Supposing himself 
near the intended site, he resolved to found a settlement; but 
tlie treachery of his inferiors, the hostility of the neighboring 
savages, and the fatal effects of a tropical climate, proved 
insurmountable obstacles to his purpose. Tonti, who had sailed 
tlown the Mississippi to meet him, after searching the coast in 
vAJn, with a heavy heart, retraced his course to the lakes. 
* Warburtou's Conquest of Canada. 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 547 

La Salle, grieved and disappointed by the mutinous disposi- 
tion of his followers, was almost in despair when he finally 
ascertained the distance of his colony from the Great Kiver. 
With indefatigable enterprise, however, he resolved to explore 
the country, and accordingly started for the Mississippi, accom- 
panied by his young nepliew, Moranger, and about twenty 
men. Their journey soon found a fatal termination. Irritated 
by the haughtiness of this youth, his lawless followers, in the 
trackless recesses of the wilderness, murdered both him and 
their commander. Thus obscurely perished one of the bravest 
and most indefatigable of the many brave and unconquerable 
spirits, who, at the cost of their lives, have won ren<jwn as 
pioneers of the New World. His memory will always be 
associated with the great river which he explored and laid 
open to mankind. 

Hennepin, dispatched, as we have seen, on a tour of explor- 
ation, ascended the river with his companions, to a great dis- 
tance, and discovered those magnificent falls on which he 
bestowed the name of St. Anthony. After great suffering 
from travel and captivity among the Indians, he succeeded in 
regaining Canada, and published an account of his exploits. 
After the death of La Salle, he gave to the world another 
brochure, manifestly false, in which he claimed the honor of 
having first explored the Mississippi to its outlet. By this 
impudent fabrication, he secured to himself a reputation some- 
what like that of Vespucius, whose fraudulent attempt (or that 
of his admirers) to wrest the glory from a true discoverer, 
obscures the renown of his real and meritorious achievements.* 

To the surveys commenced by these ardent and energetic 
travellers, was added ere long that of the brave and resolute 
Baron la Hontan, who, after a long residence among the In- 

* So notorious were his attempts at deception, that his common epithet in 
Canada, was "Le Grand lyfenteur" (The Great Liar). The falseho(id of his 
pretended journal is sutliciently evinced by the fact that he claims to have 
ascended the Mississippi from its mouth to the Illinois river, with two men, in 
a canoe, in twenty-two days! 



548 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

dians, penetrated deep into the West, and learned the exist- 
ence of the Rocky Mountains and of that vast ocean which 
laves the shores of Oregon. 



CHAPTER III. 

FATE OF LA SALLE S COLONY ENTERPRISE OF TONTI d'iBERVILLe's 

SETTLEMENTS GREAT DISTRESS AND MORTALITY GRADUAL SUR- 
VEY OF THE COUNTRY LAW's "MISSISSIPPI SCHEME" ITS 

FAILURE GREAT DESTRUCTION OF LIFE FOUNDING OF 

NEW ORLEANS WAR AVITH THE NATCHEZ AND CHICK- 

ASAWS LATER INDIAN WARS OF THE WEST. 

After the departure of La Salle, the unfortunate colony he 
had founded soon became a prey to famine and Indian hostil- 
ity. Many of the settlers perished, and two years after his 
death, the miserable remainder were seized by the Spaniards 
and taken to New Leon. 

The survivors of the party which he had commanded, after 
a quarrel, in which the two murderers were shot, directed their 
course northward, and seven of them, in July, 1687, arrived at 
the Arkansas. Here, to their surprise and joy, they found a 
fort and a Canadian settlement, planted by the indefatigable 
Tonti; and from this time, slow but continual emigration from 
the north rendered the Valley more ftmiiliar, and opened the 
way to communication between the two widely severed colo- 
nies of France. 

In 1699, M. D'Iberville, with the commission of governor, 
was sent out to found a colony in Louisiana. He entered the 
Mississippi, and searched in vain for the ill-fated settlement of 
La Salle. lie finally landed his people at Old Biloxi, about 
twelve miles west of Pensacola Bay, on which the Spaniards 
had already established a small post. Despite his assiduous 
exertions, this settlement, and others planted under his aus- 
pices along the gulf, suffered terribly from the incapacity and 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 5-i[) 

folly of those who composed them. Continually expecting to 
discover mineral wealth, the improvident emigrants neglected 
that of the soil; many perished of actual hunger; and by the 
year 1705, the whole colony contained only an hundred and 
fifty persons. 

Considerable surveys of the country, however, had been 
made. Eed River had been explored by enterprising adven- 
turers, for nearly a thousand miles, and small settlements had 
been planted on the Washita and the Yazoo rivers. The 
Missouri had been ascended as far as the mouth of the Kansas, 
and the Indians there had proved friendly and hospitable. 

At this time, a petition from the Protestants was presented 
to the French king, (Louis XIY.,) stating that, if allowed the 
free exercise of their religion, more than four hundred families 
of them would remove from among the English, and settle in 
Louisiana. But that bigoted sovereign, with equal insolence 
and impolicy, replied: "that he had not expelled them from 
his kingdom to form a republic of them." 

After the death of D'Iberville, the colonies, though receiving 
frequent accessions, suffered wretchedly from mismanagement. 
By 1712, more than two thousand five hundred emigrants 
had arrived, few of whom had returned; yet at that time 
Louisiana contained only four hundred whites, and twenty 
negro slaves. Continual intrigues and bickerings with the 
Spaniards were kept up ; both parties endeavoring to gain a 
priority in occupying the vast wilderness now known as Texas, 
In 1716, a settlement was made at Natchez, on the Mississippi ; 
and in the following year, Crozat, who for several years had 
held the country by grant, relinquished it to the "Mississippi 
Company," projected by the celebrated John Law. Seven 
hundred persons, at this time, composed the entire population 
of the settlements. 

The history of that magnificent delusion, which consigned 
thousands to beggary in France, and equal numbers to starva- 
tion and wretchedness in Louisiana, is too long to be detailed 
in these pages. Instead of the rich mines and the wealth^' 



550 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEllICA. 

monopoly of traflfic anticipated by the sanguine projectors, 
there resulted to the mother-country utter loss, general ruin, 
and enormous encumbrance; while to the unfortunate colonists 
shipped, in multitudes, without adequate provision, to the 
new El Dorado, nothing but distress and destruction could 
have been expected to ensue. In the course of six years, as 
many thousand emigrants, (including slaves and convicts,) had 
been, with the rashest improvidence, sent out to Louisiana. 
Of these, many Imndreds perished of sickness and starvation; 
and to such extremes were the settlements reduced, that, in 
1721, the very soldiers of the garrisons were obliged to retreat 
into the Indian villages to avoid perishing of hunger. In the 
midst of this period of wretchedness and mortality (1720), were 
laid the slender foundations of New Orleans, selected, two years 
afterwards, as the capital of the country, and destined, in little 
more than a century, to become the fairest and wealthiest city 
of the whole Mississippi valley. 

With all this misery of individuals, the foundation of the 
colony was now firmly laid. The very multitude of the emi- 
grants compelled them to distribute themselves over the coun- 
tr}'-, and want of provision enforced the cultivation of the soil. 
Their greatest annoyance, for a long series of years, was occa- 
sioned by the intrigues and jealousy of the neighboring Span- 
iards, and a system of petty reprisal and predatory warfare, 
for some time, was carried on. 

Indian hostilities, brought on by the ill conduct of the 
French, at one period, assumed a most alarming aspect. The 
Natchez, who, in the time of famine and distress, had been their 
benefactors and supporters, in 1723, provoked by ill-usage, took 
up arms, and destroyed many of the colonists. The latter 
having, by a solemn treaty of peace, thrown the savages off 
their guard, retorted by a sweeping and indiscriminate massa- 
cre. After this treacherous triumph, the defeated nation, for 
several years, endured great oppression at the hands of the 
victors. Their wrongs, at last, were terribly revenged. On 
the 29th of November, 1729, provoked by fresh outrage, their 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 551 

chief, (the "Grand Sun,") with a number of warriors, repaired 
to Fort Rosalie, (at Natchez,) under pretence of bringing tribute. 
The gate was seized, and the Indians swarmed in. A gen- 
eral and simultaneous massacre took place in the fort and 
the adjoining village. Seven hundred of the French, most!)'' 
men, were cut off at a blow; many captives were taken, and 
the post, with all its property, fell into the hands of the Natchez. 
In this fort, the following year, they were besieged by a strong 
force of French and allied Indians. Finding the assailants too 
strong for them, they secretly crossed the Mississippi, and passed 
up Red river. There they built a fortification ; but ere long 
were compelled, after the slaughter of many of their number, 
to surrender; and the survivors were reduced to slavery on 
the plantations, or were shipped to St Domingo. 

In a war with the Chickasaws, a few years afterwards, the 
French met with decided defeat, and their governor was com- 
pelled to make a disgraceful peace. Such were the principal 
native hostilities encountered in the Lower Mississippi valley, 
by the French — whose urbanity of disposition and ready 
assimilation to Indian peculiarities, in general, both there and 
at the north, secured to them the good-will and confidence 
of the aborigines. At a later date, excited by the gradual 
approach of the English or Americans from the east, scenes 
of Indian warfare, more serious and protracted, were destined 
to lay waste the upper regions of that vast tract, watered by 
the Great River and its tributaries. These, pertaining to our 
subject only in the obstacles which they opposed to the set- 
tlement and prosperity of the Valley, may be briefly dismissed. 



552 NORTH -^"D SOUTH AMERICA. 



PONTIAC'S WAR — THE CONFEDERACY OF MICHIKINAQUA — TECUMSEH 
AND THE PROPHET. 

The steady advance of civilization, and the constant en- 
croachments of the whites, could not but awaken apprehension 
and the bitterest feelings of hostility among the Indian tribes of 
the West. At different periods, extensive combinations were 
formed to check the progress of the settlers, and the whole 
western frontier became repeatedly the theatre for terrible 
scenes of savage warfare. The most noted of these conspira- 
cies were those excited by Pontiac, by Michikinaqua, or Little 
Turtle, and by the still more celebrated Tecumseh, and his 
brother Elskwatawa, the Prophet. 

Pontiac's war broke out in the year 1763, while the Eng- 
lish colonies in America were still dependent on the parent- 
country. The renowned chieftain, whose name has always 
been coupled with the outbreak, was an Ottawa, and had been 
upon friendly terms with the French, previous to their evic- 
tion from the various posts upon the great lakes. In his 
scheme for crushing the advanced settlements of the English, 
and perhaps for the restoration of the French influence, he 
had gained over a great number of the western tribes, and a 
portion even of the 'Six Nations, then generally upon good 
terms with the English. Among the allies were Chippewas, 
Pottawatomies, Miamies, Sacs and Foxes, Hurons, Shawanees, 
&c., &c. His plans were admirably laid, and in the month of 
June, (1763,) his warriors fell simultaneously upon nearly all 
the British western forts, and possessed themselves of nine 
trading and military posts, Detroit was ineffectually besieged 
by the chief in person for many months. The Indian opera- 
tions of this campaign were confined to the north western 
frontier, between the Ohio and the Lakes, but throughout this 
extended region, the settlers were exposed, for a whole year, 
to imminent peril, and suffered continually from savage depre- 
dations and secret assaults. The country was relieved from 




~>vr- '■■ 



TKt: U.V S KJJ, 



MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 553 

apprehension in the summer of the following year — an army 
under General Bradstreet having subdued or overawed the 
enemy. 

During the war of the Revolution, the Indian tribes of the 
west, inflamed and excited by the representations and promises 
of British agents, proved formidable enemies to the colonists. 
The spring of 1781 was particularly disastrous to the interests 
of the settlers in Western Kentucky and upon the north-west- 
ern frontier. Even after the conclusion of peace with Eng- 
land, and the establishment of American independence, Indian 
affairs continued for many years in an unsettled state. The 
minds of the savages were permanently alienated from the 
colonists, and murders and depredations were of constant occur- 
rence. The first attempts to subdue them by force of arms 
were signally unsuccessful: the disastrous defeats of Harmur 
and St. Clair by the confederate tribes under Michikinaqua, or 
Little Turtle, gave convincingproof of the strength, courage, and 
sagacity of the undisciplined enemy. It was not until the autunm 
of 179-1, that an effectual blow was struck, and the power of 
the Indians crushed, by the army under General Wayne. 

After ten years of peace, a new champion arose in behalf 
of the humiliated race, in the person of Tecumseh, a noted 
warrior of a mixed parentage, his father being a Shawanee, 
while his mother belonged to one of the southern tribes. To 
his skill as a negotiator, and bravery as a warrior, Tecumseh 
was indebted for the personal influence which he was enabled 
so successfully to exert over the natives of the west; but the 
powerful aid of superstition was called in to give confidence 
to his followers. His brother, the Prophet, without openly 
disclosing his designs, commenced preaching to the Indians, 
in the year 1804, pointing out the causes which were operating 
to destroy their power and independence, and especially en- 
forcing the necessity for union and sobriety. Carefully avoid- 
ing a rupture with the whites, he established himself^ in 1807, 
upon the Tippecanoe river, in Northern Indiana, and collected 
about him a band of those devoted to his cause. 



554 NORTH AND SOUTTT AMERICA. 

New causes of complaint having arisen, in 1810, fj'om the 
manner in which certain purchases of Indian land upon the 
Wabash had been negotiated by Governor Harrison, Tecum- 
seh started for the South, and with astonishing success aroused 
a disaffection towards the United States' government among the 
southern Indian tribes. While he was still absent upon this 
mission, the disorderly and lawless conduct of the Indians at the 
Prophet's Town, was such as to call for active measures, aud 
a force, under Harrison, was dispatched to dislodge them. The 
battle of Tippecanoe, desperately but unavailingly contested 
by the Indians, resulted in their defeat and dispersion. 

When war again broke out between the United States and 
England, the effects of Tecumseh's machinations were mani- 
fest throughout the whole western country. His perseverance, 
energy, talent, and zeal for the English cause, rendered him a 
most dangerous enemy. Upon the invasion of Canada by the 
American army, under General Harrison, in 1813, Tecumseh, 
with a strong body of his warriors, accompanied the British 
general. Proctor, in his flight up the Thames river. Choosing 
an advantageous position, not far from ]\loravian town, the 
combined English and Indian forces awaited the approach of 
the Americans. The celebrated battle of the Thames was 
fought upon the 5th of October (1813). After their white 
allies were completely routed, the Indians, protected by their 
position in a swamp, held their ground manfully until the 
death of their leader. 

The reverses of the English, and the loss of their great 
chief, completely changed the attitude of the North-western 
tribes. No further important hostilities occurred, prior to the 
difficulties connected with the removal of the Sacs in 1831-2- 
and a general readiness was exhibited to treat with the Ameri- 
cans as friends, or as superiors with whom it were hopeless 
further to contend. 



WILLIAM PENN, 

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.'. 

CHAPTER I. 

EARLY LIFE OF PENN HIS RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS — JOINS THE SECT OF 

QUAKERS IS TURNED OUT OF DOORS, AND BECOMES A PREACHER 

PERSECUTIONS DEATH OF HIS FATHER HIS FIRST CONNEC- 
TION WITH AMERICAN COLONIZATION. 

In pleasing contrast with the fierce and cruel adventurers, 
tne rapacious and unscrupulous speculators, and the zealous 
but illiberal sectarians, to whom, in so many instances, we owe 
the establishment of European colonies in America, stands the 
name of William Penn. Although he was by no means free 
from ordinary human weakness, the record of his life presents 
a series of conflicts between interest and principle, a general 
course of indomitable perseverance, a humane and generous 
sympathy with the oppressed, and a spirit of liberality in reli- 
gion and politics so far in advance of his age, as to justify the 
eulogies which have ever been heaped upon him. 

William was the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, a name 
famous in the annals of naval warfare. He was born at Lon- 
don on the l-lth of October, 1644. In early youth he experi- 
enced certain enthusiastic religious impressions, which gave 
color to the whole of his long and eventful life. When placed 
at the university of Oxford, at the age of fifteen, he came 
under the influence of the noted Thomas Loe, a preacher of 
the society of Quakers, and, with a number of other students, 
was in the habit of holding and attending private meetings 
for worship. A fine imposed by the collegiate autlioritics, for 
non-conformity, only roused an antagonistic spirit, which was 



556 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

forcibly displayed upon the occasion of a general order from 
the king (Charles 11.) for a revival of the old custom of wearing 
the surplice. Penn, with Robert Spencer (afterwards Earl of 
Sunderland), and a few other kindred spirits, "fell upon those 
students who appeared in surplices, and he and they together 
tore them everywhere over their heads. This outrage was of 
so flagrant and public a nature, that the college immediately 
took it up ; and the result was that William and several of his 
associates were expelled."* 

The adoption by Penn of the irregular religious doctrines 
of the despised sect of Quakers, his disinclination for noble 
and courtly society, and his growing seriousness, awakened 
strong apprehensions in the mind of the admiral, lest the bright 
prospects which he had anticipated for his son should be 
blighted. Persuasion and entreaty proved powerless to change 
the youthful but determined purpose of William, and blows 
and expulsion from the paternal roof only served to render 
him more resolute and more devoted to his chosen doctrines. 
After a partial reconciliation with his father, he was sent to 
France, where he pursued his theological studies at Saumur. 
Returning to England, he spent one year (1664-5) as a student 
at Lincoln's Inn; after which, having now attained his majority, 
he was sent to Ireland, and entrusted with the management of 
large estates owned there by his father. 

Unfortunately for the views of the admiral, young Penn 
fell in with his old spiritual guide, Thomas Loe, at a Quaker 
meeting in Cork, and all his former religious enthusiasm re- 
vived. He was imprisoned, together with a number of his 
associates, for attending the conventicles of the sect, these being 
classified as "tumultuous assemblies." On application to Lord 
Orrery he was released, but only to devote himself more assid- 
uously to the cause in behalf of which he had suffered persecu- 
tion. The admiral, learning that his son was commonly 
reputed a Quaker, summoned him to return home, and, after 
satisfying himself of the truth of the report, used every persua- 

* Clark son's Life of Penn. 



WILLIAM PENN. 557 

sion to subdue his contumacy. He finally told William that if 
he would but consent so far to conform to the established cus- 
toms and proprieties of society as not to wear his hat when 
seated in the presence of his father, of the king, and of the duke 
of York, he might follow his own inclinations in other respects. 
After long and serious consideration, the young enthusiast 
made known to his parent, in the most affectionate and respect- 
ful terms, his firm determination not to be guilty of the required 
"hat- worship." The consequence was that he was a second 
time thrown upon the world to shift for himself. 

Private assistance from his mother and other friends ena- 
bled him to subsist until he made his public appearance as a 
preacher of his persuasion. He became a prominent supporter 
of the sect, and published various works, in which the doctrines 
of the established church were attacked. For these heretical 
publications, he was committed to the Tower, and there passed 
seven months in close confinement. While a prisoner, he 
wrote the celebrated essay upon the trials which a Christian 
must be willing cheerfully to endure, entitled "No Cross, No 
Crown." 

After his discharge from prison, the admiral so far relented 
as to allow him to return home, without, however, holding any 
personal intercourse with him. Again commissioned to attend 
to business of his father in Ireland, Penn took the opportunity 
to encourage and assist his persecuted brethren, holding meet- 
ings with them in the jails where they were confined, and 
exerting himself, in many instances successfully, to procure 
their release. 

• Upon the passage of the " Conventicle Act," in 1670, whereby 
further restrictions were laid upon dissenters, Penn was again 
brought into difficulty by holding forth publicly in Grace- 
church street, the doors of the meeting-house being closed by 
the authorities. The account of his celebrated trial, acquittal, 
and imprisonment for non-payment of a fine imposed for con- 
tempt of court, is among the most interesting, and in some 
respects amusing, of the records of judicial proceedings in 



558 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

England. The admiral, who was now in very feeble health, 
paid the line and procured his son's release. He became com- 
pletely reconciled to him, and on his death-bed exhorted him 
to keep a good conscience, however it might affect his worldly 
prospects. 

After his father's death, William came into possession of a 
fortune of not flir from fifteen hundred a year; but this oppor- 
tunity for securing an honorable worldly position by no means 
weakened his zeal in behalf of religious liberty. In 1672, he 
married, and, despite the persecutions which he suffered, con- 
tinued to officiate as a preacher in Rickmansworth, where he 
resided. The productions of his pen excited great attention : 
their force, simplicity, and evident sincerity, were well adapted 
to lay hold on the popular mind. 

In 1676 a new field for exertion was laid open to him in the 
New World. He had served as arbitrator between John Fen- 
wick and Edward By Hinge, to whom Lord Berkely had con- 
veyed his proprietorship in New Jersey; and, upon Bj'llinge's 
becoming involved, was made one of his trustees in the man- 
agement of his western possessions. An arrangement was 
effected with Sir George Carteret, one of the original joint 
proprietors, by which the latter was secured in possession of 
the eastern portion of the grant, while the unsettled country 
to the westward was reserved to Bjdlinge and his assignees. 
This portion was thereafter known as Western New Jersey. 

After arrangements were concluded for various subdivisions 
of the purchase among the proposed settlers, Penn drew up 
articles of agreement, by which the parties mutually agreed 
upon a plan of government. These "Concessions," as they 
were entitled, provided for the formation of a primitive assem- 
bly for legislation, and for the appointment of an executive 
officer and council. The chief constitutional provisions were, 
that no man should be imprisoned for debt, that trial by jury 
should be inviolate, and that complete religious toleration 
should be extended to all the inhabitants of the colony. During 
the Avintcr and spring of 1677, extensive preparations were 



WILLIAM PENN. 5.j9 

made for peopling the western wilderness. Companies, consist- 
ing cliiefly of Quakers, made large purchases, and over four 
hundred persons sailed for Western New Jersey within a few 
months after the first publication of proposals by the trustees of 
Byllinge. Commissioners were appointed by the proprietors 
to purchase the Indian titles, that no disputes might arise be- 
tween the colonists and the native inhabitants. 

The attention of Penn, during the three years ensuing, was 
principally devoted to the support of his religious doctrines, 
and opposition to the persecution of the dissenters. He nev- 
ertheless continued to busy himself in behalf of the American 
settlement, and aided in fitting out large bodies of colonists, 
mostly Quakers, many of whom were persons of considerable 
property and high standing. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE FIRST CHAKTER OF PENNSYLVANIA — CONDITIONS OF SETTLEMENT 

PENN's first VIS[T TO AMERICA HIS CELEBRATED TREATY WITH 

THE INDIANS PROGRESS OF COLONIZATION PKNn's SECOND AND 

LAST VISIT TO THE COLONIES HIS RETURN AND DEATH. 

In 1680, William Penn made his first application for a sepa- 
rate grant of American lands to himself, for the purpose of 
forming an asylum for liis persecuted brethren, where they 
could })ursue their own forms of worship unmolested, and be 
freed from the operation of those legal enactments, which 
nppeared to them as snares for their consciences. His father 
had large claims against the government, both for money 
advanced, and for arrearages of pay, and Penn petitioned for 
a settlement of these his hereditary dues by the grant of a 
tract to the northward of Maryland, and east of the Delaware 
river; extending westward as fiir as the territory of ]\[aryland, 
and northward as far as it was capable of cultivation. On the 
4th of March, 1681, after much opposition on tlie gronr.d of 



560 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the heresy of the petitioner, the royal charter was obtained 
for the desired territory, which was called Pennsylvania, in 
remembrance of its first proprietor. It is told of Penn, that 
his modesty, and fear least he should be suspected of vanity, 
induced him to oppose the naming of the country after him- 
self; and that "he suggested Sylvania, on account of its 
woods, but they would still add Penn to it." lie was made 
by this charter absolute proprietor of Pennsylvania, rendering 
to the king the nominal return of two beaver-skins annually, 
and one-filth of all gold and silver discovered in the territory ; 
important legislative and j udicial powers were conferred upon 
him, as associated with the freemen of the colony, and subject 
to the superior control of the crown. He was also empowered 
to raise forces to resist hostile incursions, to levy duties, under 
certain restrictions, upon exports or imports, to incorporate 
towns, to constitute ports of entry, &c., &c. In behalf of 
the established church, it was provided that, "if any of the 
inhabitants, to the number of twenty, should signify their 
desire to the Bishop of London to have a preacher sent to 
them, such preacher should be allowed to reside and perform 
his functions without any denial or molestation whatever." 

Shortly before undertaking the immense care and responsi- 
bility attendant upon the acquisition of this new territory, 
Penn and twenty-four others, all but two of whom were of 
his own persuasion, had become the proprietors of East New 
Jersey by purchase, under the will of Sir George Carteret. He 
therefore found it necessary, from the multiplicity of his 
duties, to discontinue his management of affiiirs in West New 
Jersey. In this settlement his wise and liberal policy Lad pro- 
duced the happiest results, every where visible in the growth 
and ])rospcrity of the colony, and the peaceful and friendly 
intercourse maintained between the inhabitants and the Indians. 

In the "conditions or concessions" drawn up by Penn, to 
which all who became purchasers under the Pennsylvanian 
grant were required mutually to subscribe, the most careful 
provision was made to secure the Indians in their riglits, to 




'♦ I I. I. 1 ,1 M p K .V.Y. 



WILLIAM PENN. 561 

protect them from imposition, and to guarantee to them impar- 
tial justice. Trade with them was to be carried on in the 
public market-place, and the goods bartered in exchange for 
their furs were to be examined and tested, "that the said In- 
dians might neither be abused nor provoked." Differences 
between the Indians and settlers were to be decided in accord- 
ance with the verdict of twelve men, "that is, by six planters 
and six Indians^ that so they might live friendly togetlier^ as much 
as in them lay, preventing all occasions of heart-burnings and 
mischief." 

After the death of his mother, in 1682, Penn, having framed 
and published a concise constitutional code of laws for his 
American colony, prepared to cross the ocean, and lend the 
aid of his personal superintendence in settling its affairs. He 
first procured a release from the duke of York, of any claims 
which he might have in the territory of Pennsylvania, and 
obtained from him a cession of all his title and interest in and 
to a contiguous tract, known as "The Territories," then occu- 
pied by Dutch and Swedish colonists. After writing a long 
and admirable letter of comfort and pious counsel to his wife 
and children, Penn set sail for America about the 1st of Sep- 
tember (1682). Not far from one hundred emigrants, mostly 
of his own sect, and inhabitants of the county where he 
resided, embarked in the same vessel with him. 

He was received with great enthusiasm and delight by all 
the colonists, whether English, Dutch, or Swedes, over whom 
his jurisdiction was extended. His first public act was per- 
formed at the Dutch Court-house in Newcastle, where he 
formally took possession of the country, renewing the com- 
missions of the magistrates, and giving public assurance of the 
toleration and impartiality which should mark his government. 
At Upland, the name of which he changed to Chester, the 
first General Assembly was called, at which the code of laws 
before digested by Penn, with some alterations and additions, 
was formally adopted, and the union of the "Territories" with 
the province of Pennsylvania, was sanctioned. After a visit 
36 



662 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

to New York and Maryland, Penn returned to his own 
territory, to attend the confirmation of a treaty before ne- 
gotiated with the Indians by the commissioners sent out from 
England. 

At the time appointed, the parties to this novel contract 
met at Ooaquannoc, where Philadelphia was afterwards built ; 
the Quakers, "consisting of men, women, and young persons 
of both sexes," entirely unarmed, while the Indian chiefs and 
their followers "were seen in the woods as far as the eye could 
carry, and looked frightful, both on account of their number 
and their arms."* The treaty was concluded at Shackamaxon, 
a little farther up the river, beneath a huge elm, which for 
many years after continued to mark the spot. The Indians, 
laying down their weapons, seated themselves in a semi-circle 
upon the ground around their sachems, and Penn, after a dis- 
play of the articles of merchandise which constituted a por- 
tion of the price paid for the land, unrolled the parchment 
upon which the mutual covenants were engrossed, and, by an 
interpreter, explained its provisions. lie also enlarged upon 
the principles of peace and good-will which were professed by 
the colony, and, in a style of metaphor, suited to the customs 
and taste of his auditors, gave promises of favor and friend- 
ship. By the provisions of the charter, the Indians were still 
to be allowed the free use of all the unoccupied land granted 
to the colonists: "it was to be common to them and the Eng- 
lish. They were to have the same liberty to do all things 
therein relating to the improvement of their grounds, and pro- 
viding sustenance for their families, which the English had." 

The charter was given to the principal sachem, with direc- 
tions "to preserve it carefully for three generations," and, as 
late as 1722, "it was shown by the Mingoes, Shawanese, and 
other Indians, to Governor Keith, at a conference."! This 
treaty was kept with singular good faith upon both sides for 
more than half a century; according to Robert Proud, the 
mutual friendship of the Indians and whites, "for the space 

* Clarkson's Life of Penn. f Ibid. 



WILLIAM PENN. 563 

of more than seventy years, was never interrupted, or so long 
cis the Quakers retained power in the government." 

A regular survey of the acquired territory was soon com- 
menced, and the city of Philadelphia was laid out. The name 
of this city was bestowed by Penn himself, "in token of that 
principle of hrotherhj love, upon which he had come to these parts ; 
which he had shown to Dutch^ Swedes^ Indians, and others alike; 
and which he wislied might forever characterize his neiv dominions.^^ 

A settlement commenced so honorably, in so humane and 
Christian a spirit, and conducted by such a sober and consci- 
entious community, could hardly fail to prosper. Throughout 
Penn's administration, his efforts were unwearied in preserv- 
ing peace with the natives, and in extending to them the bless- 
ings of instruction and civilization. In the year 1684, when 
lie returned to England, there were about twenty-five hundred 
inhabitants of Philadelphia, and the whole number of colon- 
ists under his charge amounted to some seven thousand. 

The accession of James II., to whose care he had been spe- 
cially commended by his father the admiral, gave William 
Penn great influence at the English court — an influence which 
was steadily and zealously exerted in behalf of the persecuted 
sect to which he was attached. To give even the briefest outline 
of his after political life, his virtues and failings, the absurd 
slanders reported against him, and the consequent shifting of 
popular favor, would exceed our limits; and the events of 
his career in England, although highly interesting, offer too 
little in connection with his American transactions, to demand 
a lengthened consideration. He visited America in 1699, and 
immediately convened the general assembly for the purpose 
of passing acts to restrain piracy and illicit traffic, evil reports 
having been widely circulated in England, to the effect that 
the colonists had countenanced these irregularities. He after- 
wards vainly attempted to procure the passage of two acts by 
the assembly, for the protection and improvement of the negro 
slaves owned within the territory, and "for preventing abuses. 
upon the Indians." In other matters he was at issue with tha 



56-i NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

assembly, and complained, witli some justice, of its attempts 
to control his property and curtail his rights. His usual mod- 
eration and forbearance, however, prevented any serious dis- 
agreement. During his stay, he was careful to extend and 
renew his treaties with the natives, who rightly looked up to 
him as their truest friend and benefactor. When the report 
of his intended departure reached them, numbers came to bid 
him farewell. With many affectionate exhortations and ex- 
pressions of benevolence, he strove on the occasion of this his 
last personal interview with the Indians, to impress upon them 
the necessity for an effort upon their own part to assist iu 
the enforcement of certain proposed laws for suppressing the 
sale of ardent spirits among them. 

Afler his return to England, pecuniary embarrassments 
pressed heavily upon the generous and open-hearted proprietor 
of Pennsylvania. From various causes, principally a neglect 
of his own interests in extending civilization in America, he 
became so far involved, that he was for a time compelled to 
reside within the rules of the Fleet prison. In 1709, he mort- 
gaged his province of Pennsylvania to relieve himself from 
the pressure of debt. During the last six j^ears of his life, 
his bodily and mental faculties were greatly impaired: he 
died, after a gradual decline, on the 30th of July, 1718. 



DANIEL BOONE, 

THE PIONEER OF KENTUCKY. 

CHAPTER I. 

"Of all men, saving Sylla the man-slayer, 

Who passes for in life and death most lucky, 

Of the great names which in our faces stare, 
Old Colonel Boone, backwoodsman of Kentucky, 

Was iiappiest among mortals any where." — Dori Juan. 

PARENTAGE AND YOUTH OF BOONE HIS PASSION FOR HUNTING AND 

ADVENTURE REMOVES TO THE YADKIN HIS MARRIAGE TROU- 
BLED BY NEW SETTLERS HIS EXPEDITION TO KENTUCKY 

ADVENTURES THERE SOLITARY LIFE HIS RETURN, AND 

ATTEMPT TO FORM A SETTLEMENT ITS FAILURE HIS 

FINAL SUCCESS PERILOUS INCIDENT. 

Daniel Boone, one of the most famous of Western adven- 
turers, was tlie son of an Englishman, who, in the early part 
of the eighteenth century, emigrated to Pennsylvania. The date 
of his birth seems not certainly known, but it was somewhere 
from 1727 to 1734. His father dwelt on the Schuylkill, near 
the town of Heading, then on the very frontier of the wilder- 
ness; and the grand passion of Daniel, from a tender age, was 
for hunting and a free life in the forest. Once, it is said, when 
a mere boy, he absented himself from home for several days, 
and was finally discovered by the smoke from the rude hut 
which he had constructed in the woods, and in which he was 
living by the fruits of his rifle. He detested school, and re- 
ceived little education, not even learning (it has been said) 
to write. While yet a youth, with all the family, he started 
through the wilderness to found a new home on the distant 
banks of the Yadkin, in North Carolina. 



566 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

While his father and brothers busied themselves in the 
labors ^f the improving plantation, 3^oung Boone revelled in 
the glorious abundance of game, with which that fresh and 
untrodden region abounded, and the spoils of his rifle were no 
inconsiderable addition to the resources of the household. At 
an early age, he married Rebecca Bryan, who through her 
life proved a companion as faitliful, brave, and energetic, as 
the partner of a career like his should be. On the head-waters 
of the Yadkin, deep in the virgin forest, he cleared ground, 
built a new home, and with his wife, his rifle, and a little fom- 
ily growing np around him, enjoyed, no doubt, the liapi)ines3 
most congenial to his soul. '^^Phis tranquillity was only dis- 
tui-bed by the gradual approach of fresh settlers; game became 
less plentiful; and, with a restlessness which followed him 
throijo-h his whole life, he resolved to seek a new abode in 
some deeper and less accessible solitude. 

Accident determined the direction of his pilgrimage. In 
the year 1754, one James McBride, passing down the Ohio, 
had entered tlie mouth of the Kentucky river, and on his 
return, had given glowing accounts of the beauty and fertility 
of the surrounding region. Another exploring party, pro- 
ceeding some distance overland, confirmed the enticing state- 
ment. In 17H7, John Finley, an Indian trader, had penetrated 
yet deeper into the beautiful wilds of Kentucky. He brought 
home singvdar accounts. No Indians, he said, dwelt there, 
but the various tribes made it their hunting-ground, and in 
their encounters, waged such fierce and desperate battles, that 
(he whole region was known among them by the name of 
"The Dark and Blood}'- Ground"' — a title destined, not long 
:i(\cr, to gain a fresh and fatal significance. 

This Fiidey fell in with Daniel Boone, who was so charmed 
with his wild stories, that he invited him to pass the winter at 
his house. The result of their intimacy was an agreement 
;!ia.t, in the ensuing spring, the ground so tempting and so 
dangerous, should be explored afresh. 

On the 1st of ^fay, 17G9, the two cronies, accompanied by 



DANIEL BOONE. 567 

John Stewart and three others, took their departure amid the 
lamentations of their families and neighbors, who looked on 
them as men going to certain destruction. They kept a north- 
westerly direction, subsisting on the abundant game which 
they found in the woods, and ever on the alert against a sur- 
prise by the savages. At last, after many a weary day of 
travel, from the summit of Cumberland mountain, they gained 
their first view of that beautiful region, the destined inherit- 
ance of their children. They descended the western slope, 
and entered on a green and fertile plain. A vast drove of 
buffaloes soon delighted their eyes, and, with no ordinary- 
exultation, they sat down to their first supper of this noble 
game. By the 7th of June, they reached Red River, where 
Finley had traded with the Indians, and there, constructing a 
substantial log-cabin, they made a permanent encampment. 

Boone was in ecstasy at the noble variety and plenty of 
the chase. "We found every where," he says,* "abundance 
of wild beasts of all sorts, through this vast forest. The buffiilo 
were more frequent than I have seen cattle in the settlements, 
browsing on the leaves of the cane, or cropping the herbage of 
those extensive plains, fearless, because ignorant of the violence 
of man. In this forest, the habitation of beasts of every kind 
natural to America, we practised hunting with great success 
until the 22d day of December following." On that da}^, 
Boone and Stewart started on an exploring excursion, and. 
just as night came on, stood on a hill by the Kentucky river, 
surveying the country. As they descended, a party of Indians, 
ambushed in a cane-brake, sprang on them with such sudden- 
ness, that flight or resistance was impossible. They were taken 
prisoners, and for seven days were marched with their savage 
captors, uncertain of their fate. At the end of that time, by 

* A brief narrative of his early adventures exists, said to have been written 
by himself, not long after the settlement of Kentucky, but more probably at 
his dictation, by the pen of another. The style is occasionally too high-flown 
and bookish, to have come direct from the simple mind of an unlettered hunter 
and backwoodsman. 



568 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA- 

extraordinan' artifice and caution, they contrived to escape, 
and betook themselves to their camp: but it was stripped and 
deserted. To their great joy, that very evening two men. 
Squire Boone (a brother of Daniel) and another, arrived at 
the cabin fivm Carolina. 

The four companions, in this solitary region, continued tlieir 
hunting until Stewart was slain by the Indians. The other 
man then returned to North Carolina, and the two Boones 
were left together in the wilderness. They continued their old 
sports, with little apprehension, not seeing an Indian through 
the entire winter. On the 1st of May, 1770, Squire Boone 
started for the settlements, to bring back hoi-ses and a supply 
of anmiunition, and left Daniel at the little dwelling, in per- 
fect loneliness. Even the dog followed his brother al his 
departure. 

For the sake of security from tlie Indians, he now changed 
his encampment every night, never sleeping twice in the same 
place. They often, as he supposed, made visits to his cabin, 
but fortunately always in his absence. Despite the loneliness 
and the deadly peril of his situation, he appeal^ to have 
been cheerful and free from the anxiety of fear. "It was my 
liappiness," he says, ''to be destitute of this afflicting passion, 
with which I had the greatest reason to be aftected. The 
prowling wolves diverted my nocturnal hours with perpetual 
bowlings; and the various species of animals, in this vast forest, 
in the day-time, were continually in my view." He was once 
pursued for a long time by a party of savages, but ftnally, bv 
his speeii and adroitness, threw them oft* the trail. In this 
manner, encountering a variety of strange adventures, he lived 
in the woods and cane-brakes for three months, until the return 
cf his brother, who brought with him two horses, heavily laden 
with ammunition and supplies. Daring the succeeding autumn 
and winter, they busied themselves in surveying the country ; 
and at last, in March. 1771, started on their return. Bo^uie, 
rifter an almost solitary n^sidenee of two ye;irs in the wilder 
ness, had finally selected a site for his home on the Kentuckv 



DANIEL BOOXE. 569 

river, and now, to bring bis family, took his way back to 
the Yadkin. 

His vivid accounts of the beauty and fertility of the new 
country proved so attractive, that five families agreed to join 
him in founding a settlement. In September, 1773, the little 
caravan took its departure from the Yadkin, and at Powell's 
Valley was reinforced by forty more adventurous emigrants, 
making in all between seventy and eighty people. Their 
journey had a prosperous commencement, but while descend- 
ing the second range of the Alleghanies, a party of hostile 
savages assailed them from an ambush. The foe was easily 
defeated, but six of the travellers, among them the oldest son 
of Daniel Boone, had fallen by their deadly arrows; the 
flocks and herds they had brought, were scattered and lost; 
and so great was the discouragement, that, in spite of the 
remonstrances of the Boones, the majority decided to give up 
the enterprise, and retrace their steps to Clinch river. 

His grand enterprise thus foiled for the present, Boone, for 
some years, found employment in surveying, and in negotiation 
and fighting with the Indians. Early in 1775, at the instance 
of a Carolina company, under Colonel Henderson, he under- 
took to lay out a road through the wilderness to the Kentucky 
river. Five of his men were killed by the savages, and as 
mp,ny wounded, yet he reached the river, and by the 14th of 
June, completed a small fort on its southern bank. He then 
returned to Clinch river, and brought his family safely through 
the forest to the new settlement, the first in Kentucky, which, 
in honor of its founder, was called Boonesborough. "My wife 
and daughter," he says, with honest exultation, "were the first 
white women that ever stood on the banks of Kentucky river." 
. In the ensuing spring, (1776,) Colonel Calloway, an old friend 
of Boone, moved to the new settlement. An alarming incident 
soon befell the little community. His two daughters, in com- 
pany with the daughter of Boone, had gone out for some dis- 
tance from the f^rt to gather flowers, when they were seized 
by a party of savages, lying in ambush, and were hurried into 



570 NOETH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the forest. The distracted parents, witli seven companions, 
hastened in pursuit, and having found the trail, were assisted 
by shreds of clothing which the girls had contrived to drop on 
the way. After two days' chase, they came up with the spoil- 
ers, twenty in number, and the two parents undertook to rescue 
their daughters in the darkness, by a surprise. The attempt 
failed ; both were captured, and on the following day were tied 
to trees by the exultant savages for execution. From this ap- 
parently hopeless fate, they were rescued by the sudden arrival 
of their companions, whose rifles proved fatal to several of the 
Indians, and dispersed the rest. The captives were recovered, 
and the whole party returned merrily to Boonesborough. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY INDIAN WAR ATTACKS ON BOONES- 

BOROUGH, ETC. BOONE TAKEN CAPTIVE ADOPTED BY THE INDIANS 

HIS ESCAPE — DESPERATE SIEGE OF BOONESBOROUGH THE INDIANS 

REPULSED — DEFEAT OF THE WHITES REPRISALS BY GENERAL 

CLARKE — DISASTROUS CAMPAIGN OF GENERAL HARMAR DE- 
FEAT OF ST. CLAIR WITH GREAT SLAUGHTER EMOTION OF 

WASHINGTON — GENERAL WAYNe's CAMPAIGN PEACE 

RESTORED BOONE MOVES WESTWARD SETTLES 

IN MISSOURI HIS OLD AGE AND DEATH. 

The daring example of Boone and his companions was soon 
followed by numbers of resolute men, Avho erected their forti- 
fied cabins, and made their clearings in various parts of Ken- 
tucky. But that fertile and beautiful region was not to be 
rescued from its savage possessors without a fresh and terrible 
revival of its ancient title: "The dark and bloody ground," 
Moved by jealousy at the repeated intrusion of the whites, and 
stimulated by English influence, (for the war of Independence 
had commenced,) the Indians hovered around these feeble Si.'t- 
tlements, ever on the alert to surprise strngglers, and to dost,i-oy 



DANIEL BOOXE. -07 1 

the cattle of the planters. Harrodsburg and Booncsborough 
were the principal objects of attack. In April, 1777, a partv 
of an hundred savages, armed to the teeth, appeared before the 
latter settlement, but met such a warm reception from the rifles 
of its dauntless little garrison, that they retreated with much 
loss. In July, they came again, two hundred strong, but after 
two days fighting, were again beaten off, taking their dead, as 
usual, Avith them. Repeated attacks of this kind were made 
upon the various stations, and so active was Boone in this 
frontier warfare, that the savages, respecting his prowess, gave 
him, in commemoration of his terrible hunting-blade, the title 
of "The Great Long-Knife." On one occasion, beset in the 
wood by two Indian warriors, he contrived to draw their fire 
without receiving an injury, and then slew them both, one 
with his rifle, and the other, in mortal struggle, with his deadly 
hunting-knife. This scene is represented (none too well) in a 
bas-relief in the Capitol, at Washington. 

In February, 1778, while hunting alone in the woods, he fell 
in with a hundred Shawanese warriors, secretly bound to attack 
his own fortification. After a desperate chase, he was over- 
taken and secured; and twenty -seven others, who had been 
making salt at the Licks, were also captured. Boone Avas taken 
to Detroit, where his captors, fully appreciating the value of 
their prize, refused a great sum offered by the British governor 
for his liberation. They took him to old Chilicothe, the chief 
Indian town on the Little Miami, and held a grand council 
concerning the fate of so illustrious a prisoner. It was finally 
decided by an old woman, who, having lost a son in battle, 
adopted the captive, according to her lawful right, in his place, 
and he was received with the utmost kindness and affection by 
the whole tribe. In this savage manner, he lived a long time, 
affecting the utmost content, that the Indians might in time 
be off their guard. They greatly admired his skill in all manly 
exercises and in the use of arms; but, he says, "I was careful 
not to exceed many of them in shooting; for no peoj)le are 
more envious than they in this sport." 



572 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

As jet, he had found no opportunity to make his escape, so 
closely was he watched; but in the month of June, he was 
summoned, with the whole tribe, to the council lodge. Here, 
to his surprise, he found four hundred and fifty warriors, 
"painted and armed in a fearful manner;" and was informed, 
with true Indian coolness, that the object of attack was Boones- 
borough, the residence of his family and friends. He now 
resolved, at all hazards, to escape or die. For three days, with 
the rest, he drank the bitter "war-drink," and kept the cus- 
tomary fast. They then set forth, marching stealthily to the 
devoted settlement. After several days of travel, Boone, taking 
advantage of the flight of a deer, dashed after it, and was 
soon lost in the forest. He reached Boonesborough in four 
days, after travelling in that time near two hundred miles, with 
hardly a morsel of food, through the wilderness. His wife, he 
learned, to his great grief, had given him up for lost, and re- 
turned to Carolina. 

The Indians, well knowing that a surprise was now impos- 
sible, deferred their attack, and Boone, sallying forth with a 
small force, made an active demonstration against them. Hardly 
had he returned, when nearly five hundred warriors appeared 
before the fort and demanded its surrender. They barel}^ failed 
in a treacherous scheme to surprise the garrison, under pretence 
of negotiation; and finding themselves foiled, commenced a 
furious attack, lasting for nine da3^s, in which every resource 
of courage, strategy, and savage artifice was exhausted. After 
losing thirty-seven of their number, they finally gave a yell 
and departed. "After they were gone," says the old pioneer, 
"we picked up one hundred and twenty -five pounds weight 
of bullets, besides what stuck in the logs of our fort, which 
certainly is a great proof of their industry." 

The enemy thus repulsed, Boone betook himself to the Yad- 
kin, in search of his wife. During his absence, several import- 
ant battles took place; and when, in 1780, he returned with 
his family, to the settlement, all the horrors of an Indian war 
were rao"ing throughout the frontier. Boone, as a matter of 



DANIEL BOONE. 573 

course, was immediately involved in border warfare and adven- 
ture, with all their attendant perils. In a daring excursion to 
the Salt Licks, his younger brother was shot dead by his side, 
and his own escape from the savages was due only to his won- 
derful strength, endurance, and sagacity. 

Bryant's station (near Lexington), one of the most important 
settlements, was besieged by a party of five hundred Indians, 
aided by the notorious white renegades Girty and McKee. 
To relieve this important post, Daniel (now Colonel) Boone, 
with Colonels Todd and Trigg, and an hundred and seventy- 
eix men, took up a hasty march. The savages, after losing 
thirty of their number before the fort, had given up the siege, 
and started for the Blue Licks. The whites were soon on their 
trail, which, indeed, they had taken every pains to make as 
evident as possible. Boone, from this circumstance, suspected 
their strength, and counselled caution; but the rashness of 
Major M'Gary, who insisted on hastily pushing across the Lick- 
ing river, brought the party into a fatal ambush. The result 
was a complete defeat of the Kentuckians, with the loss of sixty 
of their number — among them Colonels Todd and Trigg, with 
several other officers, and a son of Colonel Boone. Elated with 
their triumph, the victorious Indians then swept the frontier 
and ravaged several ill-defended settlements. 

This grievous misfortune was in some measure avenged by 
the excursion of General Clarke, who, with a thousand men, 
passed through the Indian country, ravaging and destroying 
their principal settlements. Border skirmishes were still carried 
on, and in 1791, General Harmar, with three hundred regular 
troops, and more than a thousand militia, set forth to chastise 
the hostile tribes. He met with very doubtful success, losing 
in two engagements some hundreds of his men, and inflicting 
comparatively little injury on the enemy. To this disastrous 
expedition succeeded the still more unfortunate campaign of 
General St. Clair. That commander, with a little less than two 
thousand men, had arrived within a few miles of the Miami 
villages, the chief object of his hostility, when he was sur- 



574 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEllICA. 

rounded by an ninbusli of four thousand Indian Avarriors, who, 
concealed among the trees and the long grass, poured in a 
deadly fire from all directions. The soldiers at first fought 
bravely, but were soon thrown into confusion, and commenced 
a disorderly retreat. They were pursued by the Indians for 
four miles. Six hundred and thirty-one of their number, in- 
cluding thirty-eight officers, were left dead on the field, and 
two hundred and forty were wounded. 

The emotion of President Washington, on learning of this 
miserable disaster, was extreme; and his passionate exclama- 
tions of grief recall the anguish of Augustus, and his continu- 
ally-uttered lamentation,* on hearing that his bravest legions, 
surrounded by a savage foe, had perished in the marshes of 
Germania. No doubt, there arose vividly in the mind of the 
aged general, that terrible parallel scene of near forty years 
before, when himself, a youth of twenty-two, had shared the 
disastrous defeat of Braddock, and by his daring courage and 
skilful soldiership, had half redeemed the day.f 

A partial retribution soon overtook the triumphant savages. 
While revelling over their plunder, on the field of battle, and 
riding, with frantic exultation, on the horses and oxen which 
they had taken, General Scott, with a thousand mounted vol- 
unteers from Kentucky, fell suddenly upon them, killed two 
Lundred of their number, recaptured the booty, and drove in 

* "Varus, restore me my legions!" 

f The demeanor of the young provincial, thus driven to bay, is described 
in rude but graphic terms by an eye-witness, vvlio stood by him at the time. 
"I saw him take hold of a brass field-piece, as if it had been a stick. He 
looked like a fury; he tore the sheet-lead from the touch-hole; he placed one 
.hand on the muzzle, the other on the breech; he pulled with this and pushed 
with that, and wheeled it round as if it had been nothing. It tore the ground 
like a bnrshare" (a kind of plough). "The powder-monkey rushed up 
with the fire, and then the cannon began to bark, I tell you, and the Indians 
began to holla, when the rest of the brass cannon made the bark of the trees 
fly, and the Indians come down. That place they call Rock Hill, and there 
they left five hundred men dead on the ground." — Pauldmg''s Life of 
Washinslon, 




vol.. GEO It OF. IV.ISIllXGTOy. 



DANIEL BOONE. 57o 

them ull in hurried flight before him. It was indeed high time 
that active measures of reprisal were taken. Within seven 
years, fifteen hundred people had been killed or taken captive 
by the Indians in Kentucky alone; and almost equal devasta- 
tions had been connnitted in other of the frontier states. It was 
with general joy and satisfaction that the settlers heard of the 
appointment of General Wayne (the famous "Mad Anthony,") 
to the command of the forces destined to carry on the Indian 
war. Such was the terror excited by his rapid and destructive 
movements, and such were the precautions which he took 
against future hostilities, that ere long a treaty of peace was 
concluded with all the Indian tribes north-west of the Ohio; 
and the enterprising settlers of Kentucky were left undis- 
turbed to pursue their more peaceful avocations. "To con- 
clude," says the veteran Boone, "I can now say that I have 
verified the saying of an old Indian, who signed Colonel Hen- 
derson's deed. Taking me by the hand, at the delivery 
thereof — 'Brother,' said he, 'we have given you a fine land, 
but I believe you will have much trouble in settling it,' My 
footsteps have often been marked with blood, and therefore I 
can truly subscribe to its original name.* Two darling sons 
and a brother have I lost by savage hands, which have also 
taken from me forty valuable horses and abundance of cattle. 
Many dark and sleepless nights have I been a companion for 
owls, separated from the cheerful society of men, scorched by 
the summer's sun, and pinched by the winter's cold — an in- 
strument ordained to settle the wilderness." 

But amid the general rejoicing and content, Boone pined 
for his old solitude of the forest, and for the abundance of 
game which had fled before the footsteps of civilization. 
Kentucky had been settled with a rapidity at that time almost 
unexampled, and in 1792, was admitted as a state of the union. 
The old pioneer, involved in litigation, lost his title to the 
very lands which he had been the first to rescue from the wil- 
derness. He once more pulled up stakes, and struck deeper 
* "The dark and bloody ground." 



676 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

into the woods. Near Point Pleasant, on tlie Great Kanhawa, 
he lived with his family several years, disappointed in his 
hopes of game, but assiduously cultivating the soil. His 
imagination was at last fired by a description of that glorious 
hunting-ground which lies around the upper waters of the ]\ris- 
souri. Once more he started westward, with his wife and chil- 
dren, driving his cattle before him, and retreating deeper and 
farther from civilization. "Too much crowded," he said, to a 
wondering inquirer, at Cincinnati, "too much crowded. I 
want more elbow-room." He finally reached Missouri, and 
settled about fifty miles beyond St. Louis. 

The old Spanish regime was still in force there, and Boone 
was charmed at his arrival in a land, where (as in another 
Laish*) there were no lawyers or judges to trouble him. lie 
received from the Spanish governor the appointment of com- 
mandant over the ' district of St. Charles, in which he had 
settled. Here he dwelt, much respected, in great content, pur- 
suing his favorite avocations of hunting and trapping, until the 
acquisition of Missouri by the United States, The press of 
emigration now troubled him again; but he was too old to 
move flirther into the wilderness. lie therefore remained, and 
pursued his sports as well as the increasing infirmities of 
age would permit. Though eighty years old, he would still 
set forth, with a paper sight on his rifle, to guide his once 
unerring eye, and be absent for weeks on successful hunts for 
buffalo and deer. Mr. Audubon, in one of his many journeys 
undertaken in the ardent pursuit of science, fell in with him, 
and has left a most interesting account of their interview. 
"The stature and general appearance of this wanderer of the 
western forests," he says, "approached the gigantic, Ilis chest 
was broad and prominent; his muscular powers displayed 
themselves in every limb; his countenance gave indication of 
his great courage, enterprise, and perseverance ; and when he 

* "Thon the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people 
that were tliereiii, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidoiiiang, 
quiet and secure; fur there was no magislrale in the land." — Judges xviii. 7. 




is O R D H n EXCOUXTER. 




TH.ipriArn tuk bf.^r. 



DANIEL BOONE. 577 

spoke, tlie very motion of his lips brought the impression, 
that whatever he uttered could not be otherwise than strictly 
true." 

In 1811, the overland expedition, dispatched by Mr. Astor 
to the Columbia, touched at the old French village of Char- 
ette, on the Missouri. "Here," says Mr. Irving, "they met 
with Daniel Boone, the renowned patriarch of Kentucky, who 
had kept in the advance of civilization and on the borders of 
the wilderness, still leading a hunter's life, though now in his 
eighty-fifth year. He had but recently returned from a hunt- 
ing and trapping expedition, and had brought nearly sixty 
beaver-skins as trophies of his skill. The old man was still 
erect in form, strong in limb, and unflinching in spirit; and 
as he stood on the river bank, watching the departure of an 
expedition destined to traverse the wilderness to the very 
shores of the Pacific, very probably felt a throb of his old 
pioneer spirit, impelling him to shoulder his rifle and join the 
adventurous band."* 

For a number of years afterwards, he still lived on, in his 
old way, delighting to exercise the relics of his once matchless 
strength and skill. His wife had died, and he lived with his 
son, Major Nathan Boone. He still carried the rifle, and went 
daily into the woods until, in 1818, without any disease but old 
age, and without a premonitory pang, he died calmly and 
quietly, in full possession of his mind — being, according to 
different authorities, somewhere from eighty-four to ninety- 
one years of age. "The hair of such men should not whiten 
amid the disrespect of cities." 

* Irving^s Astoria. 

37 



LEWIS AND CLARKE. 



CESSION OF LOUISIANA BY FRANCE FITTING OUT OF AN EXPLORING 

PARTY UNDER LEWIS AND CLARKE PASSAGE UP THE MISSOURI 

MANDAN VILLAGES WINTER ENCAMPMENT FURTHER PROGRESS 

UP THE RIVER UNCERTAINTY AT THE MOUTH OF MARIa's 

RIVER GATES OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS THE FORKS OF 

THE MISSOURI : ITS SOURCE THE SHOSHONEES HORSE- 

BACK JOURNEY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS DESCENT OF 

THE COLUMBIA WINTER-QUARTERS RETURN. 

On the SOtli of April, 1803, the vast western territory then 
known as Louisiana, and subject to the jurisdiction of the 
French republic, was ceded by the First Consul to the United 
States. A great portion of this acquisition was at the time 
unexplored, and previous to the conclusion of the important 
negotiation above mentioned, plans had been set on foot by 
President Jefferson for an overland expedition to the Pacific, 
with a view of ascertaining the nature of the intervening 
country and its inhabitants. 

A powerful interest in the proposed exploration was excited 
throughout the country, upon the receipt of the intelligence that 
the United States had acquired such an extent of additional ter- 
ritory, and preparations were hastened for its accomplishment. 
The command of the expedition was entrusted to Captain 
Meriwether Lewis, private secretary to the president, and 
Captain William Clarke. The party consisted of between forty 
and fifty men, a portion of whom were to be left behind at the 
farthest point previously known and visited by Americans. 
In three boats, one of them fifty-five feet long, and partially 
•decked over, the other two being open, and of smaller dimeu- 



LEWIS AND CLAllKE. 679 

sions, the little band of adventurers, on the 1-ith of May, 1804, 
left their encampment at the mouth of Wood river, a small 
tributary of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri, 
with the intention of proceeding up the latter river as far as it 
should prove navigable. 

On the 27th of the ensuing October, they reached the well- 
known villages of the Mandans, an interesting tribe, now nearly 
or entirely extinct. In the immediate vicinity of this settle- 
ment, which was situated some two hundred miles below the 
mouth of the Yellowstone, they encamped for the winter, and, 
until the spring had fairly opened, busied themselves in gath- 
ering information of the adjacent country, and of the habits of 
the various Indian tribes. On the 7th of April, 1805, the 
thirty-two persons selected for the further prosecution of the 
venturous undertaking, embarked on board two large "peri- 
ogues " and six canoes, and proceeded on their long voyage 
into the wilderness, urging their way by oars against the swift 
current of the Missouri. On the same day, the return party, 
carrying with them many presents from the friendly Indian 
tribes, and full accounts of all discoveries and observations 
made thus far, took their departure for the states. 

The exploring party continued their course up the river^ 
taking advantage of every favorable breeze to lighten their 
labors by hoisting sail on the periogues, and toiling with oars 
and tow-lines, when the prevailing north-western winds op- 
posed their progress. They were obliged to 1-ely upon the 
skill and exertions of their hunters for daily supplies of food. 
Deer, elk, buffalo, antelopes, beaver, wild-fowl, &c., were in 
many localities sufficiently abundant. Many remains of de- 
serted encampments of the Assinaboin Indians were noticed, 
but none of that tribe were fallen in with. Throughout the 
voyage, accurate descriptions of every thing important in the 
character of the country, the probable courses of tributary 
streams &c., were carefully recorded. On the 26th, they en- 
camped at the mouth of the Yellowstone. 

The entrance of what was supposed to be the Musclc-shell 



580 xoirrn and south America. 

river, as described by Minitari liunters, was readied on the 
20th of Ma}^, being two thousand two hundred and seventy 
miles above the mouth of the Missouri. The health of the 
party was generally good, but they were much troubled with 
inflammation of the eyes from exposure to wind, driving sand, 
&c. "To the same cause," (the fme-floating sand,) says the 
narrative, "we attribute the disorder of one of our watches, 
although her cases are double and tight; since, without any 
defect in its works, it will not run for more than a few minutes 
without stopping." Although the season was so far advanced, 
they suffered considerably from cold; in the early part of the 
month some snow fell, and the mornings were frequently sharp 
and frosty. Many encounters with the grizzly bear are nar- 
rated, in which the hunters bad several narrow escapes from 
tlie ferocity and remarkable tenacity of life observable in that 
animal. It is called, indiscriminately, the "brown, grizzly or 
white bear, all of which seem to be of the same family, which 
assumes those colors at different seasons of the year." No 
Indians had as yet been met with on the river, or by any of 
the scouting parties which, from time to time, explored the 
countr}^ on either hand, since the departure from the vicinity 
of the Mandan villages. Until this point of their journey was 
reached, no spring of clear wholesome water had been discov- 
ered, with the exception of one at the bluffs, a few miles below 
the mouth of the Yellowstone. The springs were every where 
else impregnated with various salts. The vo3^agers were in the 
habit of using the water of the Missouri. 

On the 3d of June, after having passed the magnificent 
mural precipices through which the river winds its course, the 
party encamped at the mouth of what was afterwards named 
Maria's river, uncertain which branch to follow. According to 
the reports of Indian hunters, the main stream had its source 
among the Rocky Mountains, not far from the head- waters of the 
Columbia, and the necessity for passing the intervening high- 
lands before the close of the season, rendered it all-important 
that no time shouJd be lost in unavailing exploration. Canoes 



LEWIS AND CLARKE. 581 

were accordingly sent to examine the width, depth of water, 
&c,, of each of the forks. Beyond the plain, in the boundless 
expanse of which the course of the river was lost, rose, to the 
southward, a mighty range of snow-covered mountains. 

The two leaders of the expedition having made separate 
examinations of the northern and southern branches, it was 
determined to proceed up the latfer, although the appearance 
of the waters did not, like the other, correspond with that of 
the lower Missouri. The northern branch seemed to trend too 
for northward into the plain, to give reasonable encouragement 
to the party in their hopes of finding a passage through the 
mountains. The discovery of the great falls and rapids of the 
Missouri, by an advance party, under Captain Lewis, set the 
question at rest. 

At Portage creek, below the falls, a "cache" was made of 
all baggage, ammunition, provision, specimens, &c., that could 
be spared, and preparations were made for portage of the re- 
mainder round the rapids. A boat of skins, stretched upon a 
portable iron frame, which had been brought thus far, was pre- 
pared, not without great difiiculty in procuring the small 
amount of timber necessary for its completion. This boat was 
thirty-six feet long, by five and a half broad, but was so light 
that four men could carry it. From the want of tar, it was, 
however, impossible to make it sufficiently tight, and Captain 
Clarke bestirred himself to build canoes to supply its place. 
This being accomplished, on the 15th of July the party re- 
embarked. 

As the travellers entered the magnificent passage of the 
Missouri through what are called the Gates of the Eocky 
Mountains, they became exceedingly anxious to obtain an in- 
terview with the Shoshonce Indians, traces of whose recent 
presence were frequently evident. Information as to the route, 
and horses to aid in passing the mountains, were, in a manner, 
indispensable, and both must be obtained from the natives. 
Parties were sent on in advance, to overtake some of the wan- 
dering tribes before they should have received intelligence of 



582 NOliTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

the approach of strangers ; but in vain, for the alarm had been 
taken, and the party was carefully avoided. The three forks 
of the Missouri were reached on the 27th of July, and were 
named, respectively, the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin 
branches; the party continued their course up the first of 
these, as it came in from the south-west, and promised to take 
them more directly upon their desired course. 

It was not until the 11th of August, that a small party, led 
by Captain Lewis, were gratified by the sight of an Indian on 
horseback, in the distance. Although every precaution was 
taken to allay his suspicions, the wary savage would not trust 
tlfe approach of even a single unarmed man, and, greatly to 
the disappointment of the captain, dashed off among the wil- 
lows. It was on the day following this occurrence, that the 
uttermost source of the Missouri was first traced out by any 
except the wild natives of the country. Lewis and his com- 
panions followed an Indian road up the rivulet to which the 
mighty river had now dwindled. " As it led them directly on 
towards the mountain, the stream gradually became smaller, 
till, after going two miles, it had so greatly diminished in width 
that one of the men, in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on 
each side of the river, thanked God that he had lived to be- 
stride the Missouri." A few miles farther, the discoverers 
drank at the very fountain from which it proceeded, and, still 
following the Indian road, crossed the dividing ridge, and 
reached "a handsome bold creek of clear cold water, running 
to the westward." 

On the 13th, Captain Lewis was fortunate enough to come 
suddenly upon a Shoshonee woman and girl before they 
had time to escape: they "sat on the ground, and, holding 
down their heads, seemed as if reconciled to the death which 
they supposed awaited them." They were easily reassured by 
the, presents and demonstrations of kindness of the white men, 
and through them a friendly intercourse was brought about 
with their tribe. These Indians were in a state of great des- 
titution; game was exceedingly scarce, and they had been 



LEWIS AND CLARKE. 583 

plundered of nearly all their possessions by their enemies, the 
tribes from the eastward ; but they readily shared what little 
they possessed of cakes made of "service-berries and choke- 
cherries, which had been dried in the sun." 

After much difficulty in fully allaying their suspicions and 
fears, Captain Lewis induced them to accompany him down 
the Missouri to meet the main party under Clarke. The two 
parties came together on the 17th, and, to the surprise and 
satisfaction of all, the Indian wife of Chaboneau, one of the 
company, recognized her own friends and relations among 
the tribe. She had been long previous carried oif captive by 
the Minitari's, and, being a Shoshonee by birth, her interpre- 
tation now proved of inestimable service. 

The result of careful inquiry and exploration having con- 
vinced the leaders of the expedition that a descent of the main 
body of water flowing westward was utterly impracticable from 
the formidable natural obstacles, it was decided to pursue a 
more northerly course on horseback. Twenty-nine horses 
were, with much difficulty, purchased of the Indians, and the 
party took up their route through the mountains on the 30th 
of August. Twenty-three days of the most toilsome and dan- 
gerous journeying, during which they were exposed to every 
species of privation, and were compelled to kill a number of 
their horses for food, brought the party, 'in a state of great 
exhaustion, to a village of the Pierced-Nose Indians, on the 
Kooskooskee. At this place their long-continued exposure 
and fatigue, combined with the heat of the weather, began to 
tell seriously upon the health of the men, and the necessary 
labor of constructing canoes in which to descend the river 
went on but slowly. The Indians were kindly disposed, but 
could furnish nothing in the way of provision except a little 
dried fish, and roots, which latter in some instances proved 
very deleterious. 

The most interesting incidents connected with the voyage 
down the Columbia are those illustrative of the character and 
habits of the aboriginal inhabitants, who wore generally friendly, 



584 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and hospitable as far as was in their power to be. A portage 
of the canoes and baggage was eftected round the great falls 
on the 23d of October, and on the 2d of November the last 
rapids were passed, and the canoes floated in tide- waters. Five 
days more brought them to a small village of the Wahkiacums, 
near the mouth of the river. " We had not gone far from this 
village," says the journal, "when, the fog suddenly clearing 
away, we were at last presented with the glorious sight of the 
ocean — that ocean the object of all our labours, the reward of 
all our anxieties. This animating sight exhilarated the spirits 
of all the party, who were still more delighted on hearing the 
distant roar of the breakers." 

The party encamped at a most unfortunate locality, where 
high hills abutted upon the river, and their canoes were in 
constant danger from the heavy seas which broke upon tlie 
shore. To add to their distress, they were exposed for weeks 
together to almost incessant torrents of rain, by which their 
scanty stock of provision was mostly destroyed. In the early 
part of December a suitable location was discovered, three 
miles up the Netul, which emptied into a bay a short distance 
southward. 

It was the intention of the company to remain at this place 
until April, but their provisions giving out, and the game upon 
which they had relied having migrated toward the mountains, 
it was necessary to change their quarters, and it was determined 
to proceed slowly homeward. Papers containing brief accounts 
of the expedition were left with some of the coast Indians, to 
oive intelligence of its progress to any whites who should 
chance to visit the country, and on the 23d of March, (1806,) 
they embarked on board their canoes, and started on their 
return through the wilderness. Our limits forbid the attempt 
to follow them further in their tedious and adventurous jour- 
neying: suffice it to say, that no perils, fatigues, or anxiety to 
reach a place of rest and comfort, deterred them from making 
every effort still more fully to explore the country. 

CJaptain Lewis and his party reached St. Louis on the 23d 



LEWIS AND CLARK. 585 

of September, 1806. "Never," says Jefferson, "did a similar 
event excite more joy through the United States. The hum- 
blest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of 
this journey, and looked forward with impatience for the in- 
formation it would furnish. Their anxieties too for the safety 
of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubri- 
ous rumours, circulated from time to time on uncertain author- 
ities, and uncontradicted by letters or other direct information 
from the time they had left the Mandan towns, on their ascent 
up the river, in April of the preceding year, 1805, until their 
actual return to St. Louis." 

All connected with the expedition were duly rewarded by 
Congress, and its leader was shortly after made governor of 
Louisiana. Governor Lewis was subject to constitutional fits 
of hypochondria, which, after his return from his western ex- 
pedition, grew more violent, and assumed a form, as it would 
appear, of decided insanity. Under the influence of one of 
these attacks, he put an end to his own life in September, 1809. 
The manly and noble spirit which had sustained him through 
scenes of danger and suffering such as few men have ever 
been called on to undergo, broke down after its possessor had 
attained a high and honorable position, and had secured the 
confidence and favor of his countrymen. 



TEXAS, 

ITS SETTLEMENT AND POLITICAL HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. 

SPANISH GRANT TO MOSES AUSTIN SETTLEMENT COMMENCED BY 

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN MEXICAN REVOLUTION SPECULATION IN 

MEXICAN GRANTS AGGRESSIONS OF BUSTAMENTE FIRST 

TEXAN CAMPAIGN SANTA ANNA's USURPATION FORCES 

SENT INTO TEXAS COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES. 

So long as Mexico continued a dependency of Spain, the 
province of Texas remained almost entirely neglected. With 
natural facilities of communication, in its numerous navigable 
rivers and extended sea-coast, and with a soil and climate 
offering every inducement to the enterprising agriculturist, it 
was left in the undisturbed occupation of roving native tribes. 
The few settlers, of Spanish descent, who inhabited the towns 
of Nacogdoches and San Antonio, and the district adjacent, 
with true Mexican apathy, lived in an isolated and unpro- 
gressive condition. The energy and activity of the Anglo- 
Saxon race was requisite to develop the immense resources 
of the country, and make known to the world its beauty 
and fertility. 

Emigration to Texas from the United States commenced 
about the period of the Mexican revolution. On the 17th of 
January, 1821, Moses Austin, of Connecticut, obtained from 
the Spanish government, in Mexico, a grant of a tract extending 
not far from one hundred miles along the coast of the Gulf, and 
a still greater distance into the interior. Austin stipulated to 
induce the immigration to this tract of three hundred families. 



SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS. 587 

each of which was to receive a title to a square Spanish league 
of land, to be exempted from taxation for a term of years, 
and to be allowed the importation of goods, stock, &c., to the 
amount of two thousand dollars, free of duty. The contractor 
was to be rewarded by the absolute conveyance of five square 
leagues of land for every hundred families which should set- 
tle in accordance with these provisions. 

The privilege and distinction of carrying out this important 
undertaking devolved upon Stephen F. Austin, a son of the 
original grantee. After many unsuccessful attempts to induce 
the embarkation of eastern capital in the new settlement, he 
proceeded to Texas, accompanied by such adventurers, with 
their families, as he could persuade to try their fortunes in the 
new country. Others had engaged to follow at a convenient 
opportunity. The emigrants reached the Brazos river in the 
month of December (1821). From various causes, their con- 
dition was trying and precarious: two vessels, freighted with 
provisions and supplies, had been sent out from New Orleans, 
but one of these was lost, and the cargo of the other was 
plundered by the Carancahuas, or Coast Indians. In addition 
to their sufferings from destitution and from savage depreda- 
tions, a new source of anxiety arose in the uncertainty of the 
tenure by which they held their lands; as the Spanish yoke 
had now been thrown off by Mexico. In order to obtain a con- 
firmation of the former grant, from the existing government, 
Austin proceeded in person to the city of Mexico, and pre- 
sented the claims of his colony to the authorities. Such 
delays were experienced from the unsettled state of affairs in 
the new republic, that it was more than a year from the time 
of his departure before he returned to relieve the apprehen- 
sion of his associates, by the intelligence that the old contract 
was ratified by the Mexican congress. 

Meanwhile, numbers of the colonists had returned to the 
States, and others, who had intended to locate in Austin's set- 
tlement, had been deterred by the uncertainty of his title, and 
had established themselves between the Trinity and Sabine 



588 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

rivers. Encouraged by the return and success of their enter- 
prising and indefatigable leader, the disheartened settlers were 
roused to new exertions, and the report of their growing 
prosperity soon induced that steady immigration which has 
ever since continued, and must still continue, until the whole 
country is brought under cultivation. 

One of the first steps taken for their security by the settlers, 
after the return of Austin, was an expedition against the Cur- 
ancahuas, upon whom terrible retribution was visited for 
former treachery and depredations. The power of the tribe 
was so completely broken, and their numbers were so reduced, 
in this campaign, that they ceased to be formidable. 

As the value of Texan lands become more generally known, 
a spirit of speculation in Mexican grants was extensively 
excited in Europe and the United States. Contracts, similar 
to those obtained by Austin, with the condition that they 
should be void if not fulfilled by the contractor within six 
years, were made by the government with numberless com- 
panies and individuals, until the various grants spread over 
the whole territory of Texas. As might have been expected, 
these contracts almost universally fell through. 

Those who had settled upon Austin's territory and in the 
neighboring country, numbered, in 1830, over twenty thou- 
sand, constituting, as is said, more than two-thirds of the 
entire American population of Texas. They enjoyed ex- 
tended liberties, and were apparently well contented with the 
system of government under which they lived. This quiet 
and prosperity was broken in upon by the tyranny of the 
military despot, Bustamente. His first aggression was by 
obtaining a repeal of the laws for the protection of immigrants 
from the United States, who were thereby "forbidden to hold 
lands in Mexican territories." His subsequent proceedings 
were more directly insulting and oppressive: troops were 
stationed at various posts to keep the colonists in subjection, 
and forts were built at Nacogdoches, Anahuac, and Yelasco, 
"where military tribunals, organized for mock trials, conld sit 



SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS. 589 

in safety, surrounded and protected by the garrison. * * 
Citizens were arrested and confined, in several instances, upon 
vague charges of disaffection to tlie existing government; the 
civil authority in several of the municipalities was declared 
to be superseded, and in all totally disregarded; in short, the 
inhabitants of Texas found themselves, in the midst of peace, 
suddenly subjected to martial law, administered by officers 
who appeared to have been sent there for no other purpose 
than to make war upon the rights secured to them by the 
constitution of the country."* 

It was hardly to be expected that a population of the char- 
acter of the Texan pioneers should passively endure such 
indignities and injuries. A small but resolute body of vol- 
unteers, under John Austin, commenced operations on the 
25th of June, 1832, by an attack upon the fort of Velasco, at 
the mouth of the Brazos, garrisoned by more than double 
their number of Mexicans. The attempt was successful, and 
the garrison was evicted and disarmed. The same fate at- 
tended the posts at Anahuac and Nacogdoches, and in a few 
days from the time of the first demonstration, the colonists 
were in undisturbed possession of the whole country. The 
speedy overthrow of Bustamente, and the elevation of Santa 
Anna to the presidency of the republic, averted, for the time, 
the vengeance of the Mexican authorities, and the prospects 
of the settlers continued to brighten. 

The provinces of Texas and Coahuila had been thus far 
united as a single state, but the population of the former, con- 
sisting so largely of United States' emigrants, had become 
anxious for a separation, and, in 1833, Austin was commis- 
sioned to present a petition to this effect before the Mexican 
congress. No attention was paid to the question by the na- 
tional assembly, and the bearer of the petition was held in 
suspicion by the officers of government. After several months 
of fruitless attempts at negotiation, Austin started on his 
return to Texas, having previously written to the authorities 

* Historical View of Texas, by the Hon. Jolin M. Niles. 



590 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

at San Antonio, "advising the call of a convention to organ- 
ize a state government in Texas, and expressing a belief that 
such a step on their part might tend to advance, rather than 
prejudice, their claim before the national congress."* 

The contents of this letter becoming known to the Mexican 
authorities, he was thrown into prison at Saltillo, in Coahuila, 
on a charge of treason. In the following year Santa Anna's 
coup d'etat reduced Mexico to a slavish submission to the will 
of an ambitious military dictator, and Texas was the only prov- 
ince to oppose any long-continued resistance to his assumption 
of authority. Zacatecas having taken up arms in opposition 
to the new government, was crushed by an irresistible force, 
and the population were disarmed and subjected to military 
discipline and control. . A strong force was then sent into 
Texas to overawe the colonists and check the growing spirit 
of independence. 

The consequence was a general determination to throw off 
the authority of Mexico, but it was judged the wiser course 
to wait until some direct attack upon the liberties of the prov- 
ince should afford a convenient occasion for a universal effort 
for independence. A meeting of delegates to consult upon 
the proper measures of resistance was called to meet upon the 
15th of October. Meantime, General Cos, having arrived at 
Goliad with fresh troops, issued orders for a surrender of all 
collections of arms. The demand, as might be expected, ex- 
cited a storm of indignation. The first attempt to enforce it 
was at the little town of Gonzales, upon the north-western 
frontier of the American settlements. A single cannon, which 
had been procured for defence against the Indians, was in the 
possession of the inhabitants of this place, and they refused to 
deliver it up upon the requisition of the Mexican commandant 
at San Antonio de Bexar. One hundred and fifty mounted 
men were accordingly dispatched to inflict summary vengeance 
upon the Americans, and to bring away the disputed piece of 
artillery. Arriving upon the bank of the Guadaloupe, opposite 
* Historical View of Texas, by the Hon, John M. Niles. 



SETTLEMENT OF TEXA.S. 591 

tlie town, they discovered a force of nearly equal their own 
number ready to defend the settlement. This was on the 
28th of September, 1835. After waiting two days in expecta- 
tion of an attack, the Texans crossed the river, and with little 
difficulty drove off the Mexican detachment. Thus was the 
war commenced: five hundred men were speedily collected at 
Gonzales, and, with Austin for their General, the little band 
determined to commence offensive operations by an attack 
upon San Antonio. 



CHAPTER II. 

STORMING OF GOLIAD AND SAN ANTONIO — GENERAL SUCCESS OF THE 

PATRIOTS INDEPENDENCE DECLARED INVASION BY SANTA ANNA 

FALL OF THE ALAMO CAPTURE AND MASSACRE OF FANNIN's 

DETACHMENT GENERAL SAM. HOUSTON BATTLE OF SAN 

JACINTO ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXAN INDEPENDENCE. 

Before the main body of the Texan army had commenced 
operations against San Antonio, the strong Mexican fort at 
Goliad or La Bahia, upon the San Antonio river, was taken 
by a small force of volunteers, acting independently of the 
principal command. The attack was made in the night, and 
the garrison, uncertain as to the numbers and terrified by the 
impetuosity of the assailants, made no effectual resistance, A 
large amount of arms, ammunition, and stores, destined for the 
Mexican garrison at San Antonio, were secured by the Texans. 
In this affair the celebrated Kentuckian, Colonel Milam, took a 
prominent part. He had escaped from a Mexican prison, and 
accidentally fell in with the American party, on the night of 
the assault. The news of this brilliant affair excited universal 
astonishment and exultation. 

The army, under General Austin, having taken up a position 
in the vicinity of San Antonio, various efforts were made to 
entice the enemy to an engagement without the walls, as the 



592 KORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

strengtli of their position and the great superiority of their 
numbers seemed to the Texan commander to render an attempt 
at carrying the place by storm too hazardous. One or two 
vain attempts to surround and surprise the assailants having 
been made by the garrison, affairs remained stationary until 
the departure of General Austin as a political commissioner in 
behalf of the new State. He was succeeded in command by 
Colonel Edward Burleson, and it was determined to risk an 
assault upon the town. On the 5th of December the attack 
commenced, and after four days of hard fighting, General Cos, 
having been driven to take refuge in the strong fort of the 
Alamo, agreed to capitulate. By the articles of surrender, he 
was to depart, within six days, with his officers, upon parole 
not to "in any way oppose the reestablishment of the federal 
constitution of 1824:" the Mexican troops, with certain excep- 
tions, were to be allowed to depart under the orders of their 
general, to remain at the town, or to disband and go whither 
they pleased. The fort at Lepanticlan, on the Nueces, having 
been seized a month previous by Texan volunteers, the fall of 
San Antonio de Bexar left the colonists in entire possession of 
the country. 

In the midst of the excitement attendant upon these early 
revolutionary struggles, the delegates met, and organized a 
provincial government : General Stephen F. Austin, with two 
others, was appointed to procure funds and supplies in the 
United States; Samuel Hoiiston was chosen commander-in- 
chief of the forces; and Henry Smith was raised to the office 
of governor. In March of the ensuing year an assembly of 
delegates unanimously agreed upon a declaration of independ- 
ence, and Texas was declared to be a "free, sovereign, and 
independent republic." 

During the winter months considerable bodies of young adven- 
turers from the United States arrived at Texas, and were either 
scattered through the country, or concentrated at San Antonio 
and La Bahia. No immediate call for their services appeared, 
and men's minds were in irreat uncertaintv as to when or where 



SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS. 593 

the Mexican general would make his first demonstration. A 
company under Colonels Grant and Johnson undertook an ex- 
pedition against Matamoras, on the Rio Grande, but nearly the 
entire body was destroyed by the right division of the invading 
Mexican force, which was advancing parallel with the coast 
under General Urea. Santa Anna himself was approaching 
San Antonio through the interior. The little garrison at that 
post fortified themselves, as well as possible, in the Alamo, 
and sent intelligence of their critical position to head quarters, 
requesting assistance, but avowing their intention of holding 
out to the last. No very accurate details have been given of 
the manner in which this band of brave men was destroyed, 
but it appears that, after a long and desperate defence, the fort 
was stormed by an overwhelming force, and the garrison per- 
ished to a man, either slain in the conflict, or put to death for 
defending an untenable post. 

The Mexican army now in Texas consisted of not far from 
eight thousand men; its general had openly proclaimed his 
intention of inflicting the most merciless punishment upon the 
inhabitants if he should meet with resistance; the Texan army 
was but a handful in comparison with its opponents ; and the 
prospects of the new State were in every respect gloomy. A 
division of Santa Anna's army, immediately after the foil of 
San Antonio, was marched upon Goliad, and the Texan troops, 
under Colonel Fannin, were compelled to commence a retreat 
to Victoria. Being overtaken, and in a manner surrounded 
by an irresistible force, there was no choice but to surrender 
or to throw away their lives; and after a severe engagement a 
capitulation was accordingly entered into, by which favorable 
terms were guarantied by the Mexican officers. The prisoners 
were joined, in a few days, by considerable bodies of volunteers 
from the United States, who had also fallen into the hands of 
the Mexicans. On the morning of March 27th, nearly the 
whole of these prisoners of war, in violation of the articles under 
which they had surrendered, were murdered in cold blood. 
"At six in the morning," according to a letter written by one 
38 



694: NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

of the Mexican officers, "the execution of four hundred and 
twelve American prisoners was commenced, and continued till 
eight, when the last of the number was shot. At eleven com- 
menced the operation of burning their bodies. * * 
They were all young, the oldest not more than thirty, and of 
fine florid complexions."* Such barbarity, instead of crushing 
the spirit of the Texan patriots, only awakened a more deter- 
mined energy, and more effectually secured the final overthrow 
of the cruel invader. Our limits will not allow of a serial narra- 
tive of the minor events of the campaign ; a brief notice of the 
decisive battle of San Jacinto, and of the hero to whose skill 
and intrepidity so much was due in this crisis of Texan affairs, 
must conclude our sketch of the progress of the revolution. 

General Samuel Houston, previous to his connexion with 
the fortunes of Texas, had led a life of such strange vicissi- 
tudes, as must develop all the powers and energies of man. 
As solclier, lawyer, and legislator, he had exhibited unusual 
acumen and sturdy self-reliance. Equally at home in an In- 
dian wigwam, or in the halls of congress, he had spent years 
among the aborigines of the country, sharing their rude ac- 
commodations, and pursuing their primitive avocations. By 
this intimate communion, he acquired not only a sympathy 
with that unfortunate race, which has ever appeared in all his 
dealings with them, but an influence and control over their 
affections and conduct, incomparably gi'eater than that attained 
by any other living man. 

Having removed to Texas, he entered heart and soul into 
the early movements of the patriots, and so fully secured the 
confidence and respect of his associates that, at the most dan- 
gerous period in the historj^ of the countr}^, he was appointed, 
as before mentioned, to the supreme military command. 

The advance of Santa Anna was preceded by a desertion 
of the flourishing settlements of the colonists, and it was plain 
to the Texan general, that unless some decisive blow was 
speedily struck, the whole country would soon be swept, and 

* Niles' Historical View of Texas. 



SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS. 595 

the hopes of the patriots be completely crushed. On the 
18th of April, (1836,) a Mexican courier was taken, by the 
exertions of the indefatigable and courageous Erastus Smith, 
known as "Deaf Smith," and by the dispatches thus secured, 
Houston was fully apprized of the plans of the enemy. Santa 
Anna had marched upon Harrisburg, then the seat of govern- 
ment, in hopes of seizing upon the state authorities. Failing 
in this, he burned the town, and proceeded down Galveston 
bay, towards New Washington, where was a d^pot of mil- 
itary stores. On his return towards Lynch's ferry, on the 
San Jacinto, with the intention of pressing on to Anahuac, 
he encountered the Texan army ready to give battle. 

The patriot army consisted of less than eight hundred men, 
of all ranks and occupations, most of them undisciplined and 
ignorant of militarj^ affairs. The Mexirnns, as reinforced by 
five hundred troojis, under Cos, on the morning of April 21st, 
(the day of battle) numbered nearly or quite sixteen hundred, 
most of whom were veteran troops, under the command of of- 
ficers of skill and experience. Both armies, after a preliminary 
skirmish, encamped on the night of the 20th, upon the right 
bank of the San Jacinto, just below the mouth of Buffalo 
Bayou. The action commenced at half-past three, P. M., by 
a most impetuous attack on the part of the Texans, who rushed 
on, to the war-cry of "Eemember the Alamo!" The rout of 
the Mexicans was complete, and the pursuit of the fugitives 
continued until nightfall. General Houston's dispatches to 
the president of Texas, dated April 26th, give the following 
as the general result: "In the battle, our loss was two killed 
and twenty-three wounded, six of whom mortally. The ene- 
my's loss was six hundred and thirty killed, among whom was 
one general officer, four colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, five 
captains, twelve lieutenants. Wounded, two hundred and 
eight, of which were five colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, 
two second lieutenant-colonels, seven captains, one cadet. Pris- 
oners, seven hundred and thirty — President General Santa 
Anna, General Cos, four colonels, aids to General Santa Anna, 



696 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

and the colonel of the Guerrero battalion, are included in the 
number. General Santa Anna was not taken nntil the 22d, 
and General Cos on yesterday, very few having escaped." 

This brilliant achievement put an end to the war: there 
were still more than four thousand Mexican troops in the 
country, but officers and men were alike dispirited and un- 
nerved, and a hasty retreat was the result. The government 
of Texas was duly organized, under the constitution of March 
17th, and General Houston was elected to the presidency. A 
steady influx of population from the United States followed 
the establishment of the independence of Texas, and the desire 
of the inhabitants for the security to be afforded by a union 
with their parent-country, met with a ready response. The 
recognition of Texan independence by the United States' gov- 
ernment, the annexation of the new state to the union, and 
the important consequences of that vast addition to our terri- 
tory, are still fresh in the minds of all. 



OREGON. 



VOYAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA THE COLUMBIA DISCOVERED BY HECETA 

AMERICAN TRADING ENTERPRISES IN THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY 

FOUNDATION OF ASTORIA DESTRUCTION OF THE TONQUIN AND 

HER CREW WAR WITH ENGLAND TREATIES OF 1818 AND 

1846 RELATIVE TO JURISDICTION EMIGRATION. 

For many years subsequent to the conquest of Mexico by 
the Spaniards, nothing was certainly known of the western 
coast of America lying northward of latitude forty -two or forty- 
three degrees. Fictitious accounts of the discovery of com- 
munication by water between the Atlantic and Pacific, in high 
northern latitudes, obtained extensive credence, but the only 
one of these which is worthy of examination is that relating to 
the voyage of a Cephalonian pilot, named Juan de Fuca. In 
the year 1587, this renowned navigator, being on board a Span- 
ish vessel bound from Manilla to New Spain, was captured by 
Cavendish, and, with his companions, was set ashore some- 
where in the vicinity of the southern cape of the Californian 
peninsula. Their vessel had been fired by the freebooters, but 
the flames were extinguished by a storm, and she drifted ashore. 
The unfortunate crew managed to repair their dismantled and 
plundered craft, and made their way to Mexico. His nautical 
skill commended Juan to the Spanish governor, and he was 
commissioned as pilot to aid in exploring the coast to the 
northward, in expectation of entering the fabulous straits of 
Anian, said to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Noth- 
ing was effected by this first expedition, on account of a disa- 
greement between the captain and crew. 

In 1592, he was again dispatched upon the same errand, in 



598 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

a small caravel, and the following brief account of tLe vo}age 
is given bj Purchas, in a note purporting to be written by 
"Michael Lock, the elder:" "He followed his course, in that 
voyage, west and north-west in the South /Sea, all along the 
coast of Nova jSpania, and California, and the Indies, now called 
North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great 
map, and a sea-card of mine own, which I laid before him,) 
until he came to the latitude of forty-seven degrees ; and that, 
there finding that the land trended north and north-east, with a 
broad inlet of sea between forty-seven and forty-eight degrees 
of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than 
twenty days, and found that land trending still some time 
north-west, and north-east, and north, and also east and south- 
eastward, and very much broader sea than was at the said en- 
trance, and that he passed by divers islands in that sailing; 
and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the 
north-west coast thereof, a great headland or island, with an 
exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a pillar, thereupon. 
Also he said that he went on land in divers places, and that 
he saw some people on land, clad in beast's skins ; and that the 
land is very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and t)ther 
things, like Nova Spania. 

"And also he said that he, being entered thus far into the 
said strait, and being come into the North Sea already, and 
finding the sea wide enough every where, and to be about 
.thirty or forty leagues wide in the mouth of the straits where 
he entered, he thought he had now well discharged his office ; 
-and that, not being armed to resist the force of the savage 
.people that might happen, he therefore set sail, and returned 
.homewards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at 
Acapulco^ Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded by the viceroy 
for his service done in the said voyage."* 

The old sailor, after many vain attempts to obtain some 

* "Proofs and Illustrations," appended to Robert Greenhow's History of 
Oregon and California. The spelling is modernized: otherwise the account 
lis an cxact.transcnpt of the oriyir.al. 



OEEGOX. 599 

remuneration from the' Spanish government, and to better his 
fortunes in foreign service, died at an advanced age in his 
native country. 

Although great discredit was, in former times, thrown upon 
the above account, by reason of some errors, arising, perhaps, 
from mistakes on the part of Lock, or from a failure of the old 
pilot's memory, modern historians consider it reliable in its 
more important particulars. That the navigators should have 
supposed themselves in the Atlantic, after sailing many days 
to the eastward, through a hitherto unexplored channel, was 
the natural result of the established theory respecting the 
geograph}' of North America. The southern passage between 
\'ancouver's Island and the main, which he was, in all proba- 
bility, the first to enter, still bears the name by which the 
Greek Pilot was commonly known — his real name, according 
to the note before cited, being Apostolos Valerianos. 

Partly because of an error in the latitude, occurring in the 
account of Juan de Fuca, many explorers of the north-west 
coast pronounced positively that no such channel as he de- 
scribed could exist. As late as 1778, Captain Cook, in the 
Kesolution, made unavailing search for the straits. Three 
years previous, (on the 15th of August, 1775,) the mouth of 
the Columbia had been, for the first time, discovered by Bruno 
Heceta, then in command of an expedition fitted out for ex- 
ploration at San Bias. He supposed that it might be the 
strait described by Juan de Fuca, but the strength of the cui-- 
rent, which prevented him from entering, seemed to favor the 
opinion that it was the mouth of a large river. It was laid 
down on Spanish charts, as ileceta's inlet, or the river of San 
Koque. The second discovery of the strait was made by Caj)- 
tain Berkeley, an Englishman, sailing in the employ of the 
Austrian East India Company, in 1787. 

In the summer of the same year, a company of Boston mer- 
chants sent out two vessels, the Columbia and Washington, to 
engage in the fur-trade on the north-west coast, with the special 
object of procuring a cargo which could be advantageously 



600 KORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

exchanged for China goods. One of these vessels, as is sup- 
posed, was the first to enter the mouth of the river Columbia. 

After the cession of the territory of Louisiana to the United 
States, and the exploration of the country by Lewis and Clarke, it 
was considered verj desirable to found a permanent settlement 
somewhere near the entrance of the Columbia, for the purpose 
of trading in furs. With this object, an association, called the 
"Pacific Fur Company," was formed in 1810, by the exertions 
of John Jacob Astor, a merchant of great wealth, residing in 
the city of New York. This distinguished and enterprising 
financier had long been engaged in trade with the interior of 
North America, as well as in very extensive maritime adven- 
tures, and his plans were, at this juncture, to establish such a 
system of communication, and such permanent depots for trade, 
as should secure to the company of which he was the most 
prominent member, a complete monopoly of the fur-trade, by 
means of the two great outlets at the east and west, the Mis- 
souri and the Columbia. 

Ships were accordingly dispatched to the north-west coast, 
and in the summer of 1811 a settlement was commenced at 
Point George, about ten miles from the sea, on the left bank 
of the Columbia, and was named Astoria. Trade seemed to 
open prosperously, and the Indians brought in considerable 
quantities of furs, &c., to barter for eastern commodities. The 
Touquin, in which the first party came out, pursuing her 
course northward, anchored near the strait of Juan de Fuca, 
and commenced a trade with the Indians, who thronged about 
her in their canoes. The temptation to plunder being, it is 
supposed, too great to be resisted, the natives took the oppor- 
tunity of some affront which was offered them, to fall upon and 
massacre the crew. The vessel was blown up, possibly by 
some few of the whites who had retreated to the cabin, and 
had defended themselves as long as possible. The only sur- 
vivor was an Indian interpreter, who, after being detained two 
years a captive, was set at liberty, and carried information (;f 
the above particulars to Astoria. 



OREGON. 601 

The breaking out of war with England, in 1812, proved 
ruinous to the American enterprise at Astoria. To avoid 
seizure and total loss of the company effects, the partners 
resident on the Columbia effected a sale of the whole estab- 
lishment, with the furs, &c., there stored, to the British North- 
West Company. The English sloop-of-war Eacoon, shortly 
after the conclusion of this negotiation, arrived at the mouth 
of the river, and the commander was excessively indignant at 
the transfer, which had deprived him of what he had looked 
upon as a certain prize. After the restoration of jurisdiction 
over Astoria to the United States, the British traders, who 
occupied under the above-mentioned purchase, continued to 
reside at the settlement and carry on their traffic in furs. 

It is not our purpose to enter into a discussion of the long 
and v/earisome dispute between England and the United States 
relative to our north-western boundary. Such conflicts of na- 
tional interest are almost universally settled either in accord- 
ance with the maxim, that "might makes right;" or, where 
the respective powers are equally formidable, and the interest 
of both precludes a resort to arms, by mutual concessions, 
'^l^hat strange and uncertain sj^stem of maxims and usages, 
known as the Law of Nations, tends too often rather to obscure 
than elucidate the questions in dispute. 

By the treaty of 1818, the territories west of the Rocky 
Mountains claimed by the United States or Great Britain, wei'e 
to be jointly occupied by citizens of either country, for a period 
of ten years. Upon the expiration of this term, (in 1828,) the 
arrangement was renewed and indefinitely extended, one year's 
notice to be given by either government prior to any future 
assertion of sole sovereignty. 

As the attention of the United States became aroused by 
the progress of emigration to Oregon, the necessity for some 
definitive settlement of the boundary question began to be 
universally felt. Subsequent to the explorations and surveys 
under Colonel Fremont, elsewhere narrated, great numbers of 
settlers, during the summers of 1848 and 1844, pursued the 



602 XOKTH AND SOUTH AMEIUCA. 

overland route, and settled in the "Willamet valley. The num- 
ber of American emigrants in Oregon, at the close of the latter 
year, is computed at more than three thousand, and great 
sympathy was felt for them throughout the Union, in consid- 
eration of the hardships they had endured, and the uncertain!}^ 
of their position while the right of jurisdiction over the country 
remained unsettled. After a prolonged negotiation, a treaty 
was signed by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and the 
United States, on the 15th of June, 1846, by the provisions of 
which, the line of the forty-ninth parallel of latitude was to be 
continued westward, as the boundary between the territories 
of their respective governments, as far as the centre of the chan- 
nel separating Vancouver's Island from the continent, thence 
through the straits of Fuca to the ocean ; reserving the right 
of navigation to citizens of the United States in all those 
waters south of the forty-ninth degree of latitude. The free 
navigation of the Columbia was also secured to British subjects, 
from the territory of their own government through the main 
northern tributary to the sea. The rights of private property 
belonging to British subjects, were to be respected, with certain 
exceptions relating to appropriation of land for public pur- 
poses, in which case property so taken was to be paid for at 
a valuation. 

The climate of Oregon is much milder than that of the east- 
ern border of the North American continent, even in much 
lower latitudes, and the fertility of the soil offers great induce- 
ments to an agricultural population. Although the excitement 
attendant upon the gold discoveries in the contiguous state of 
California has turned the tide of emigration in that direction, 
Oregon continues steadily to increase in population, and her 
progress, if not as rapid as that of her rival, is based upon per- 
manent natural resources. 



CALIFOR-NIA. 



DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMEiNT OF THE PENINSULA OF OLD CALIFORNIA 

ESTABLISHMENT AND PROGRESS OF SPANISH MISSIONS IN THE 

CALIFORNIAS — EFFECTS OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION 

ACQUISITION OF NEW CALIFORNIA BY THE UNITED 
STATES — GOLD DISCOVERIES. 

The early history of both Upper and Lower California 
derives its principal interest from the picture it presents of 
spiritual influence acquired by zealous and self-devoted mis- 
sionaries over the rude and unsophisticated aborigines. The 
mountainous and barren peninsula, to which alone the name 
.of California was at first applied, was partially explored in the 
early period of Spanish rule in Mexico, and various futile 
attempts, resulting only in useless expenditure of lives and 
money, were made to i)lant colonies upon it. Grijalva, in 
command of an expedition fitted out by Cortez, first dis- 
covered the country in the year 1584, and the great con- 
queror, in person, followed up the discovery by an exploration 
of the gulf. 

A knowledge of the western coast was gradually acquired 
by the Spaniards as far north as the forty-third degree of lati- 
tude, but no successful attempt at settlement was made until 
near the close of the seventeenth century. At that period the 
"work was undertaken by the enthusiastic devotees connected 
v/ith the wonderful society of the Jesuits. Father Kiihn, (a 
name rendered as Kino by Spanish historians,) who had for- 
merly been a mathematical professor at Tngoldstadt, and who 
had come over as a missionary to America, in fulfilltncnt of a 



604 NORTH AND SOUTH AIMERICA. 

VOW, was the chief mover of tlie undertaking. Kino com- 
menced operations upon the coast of Cinaloa, to the eastward 
of the gulf, while the work of converting the natives of the 
peninsula was committed to Father Salvatierra. 

The latter, with a protective force of only five soldiers and 
their captain, sailed from Yaqui, on the gulf, on the 10th of 
October, 1697. Having selected a convenient spot upon the 
bay of San Dionisio, the little party pitched their camp, and, 
erecting a tent for a chapel, therein enshrined an image of 
"our Lady of Loreto, the patroness of the Conquest." The 
natives were generally of a timid and friendly disposition, but 
they had experienced the cruelty and tyranny of the Span- 
iards in too many instances to be favorably inclined towards 
any settlement of whites. It had been a common custom, for 
many years, for those engaged in the pearl-fishery upon the 
coast, to compel the services of the natives in their dangerous 
employment, and great numbers perished by drowning, or by 
being devoured by sharks. "With much difficulty the Jesuits 
procured the passage of a law by the Mexican government for 
the protection of the Indians from this violence. 

Assisted by funds procured in New Spain by private con- 
tribution, and the assistance of certain of the religious orders, 
Salvatierra procured a stock of provisions, and commenced the 
work of the mission by bribing the Indians to listen to his 
instruction, with '* pozzoli," or boiled maize. " The pozzoli was 
more attractive than the Latin prayers, and they soon began 
to seek for the one without the other ; and this being refused, 
they set about considering whether they might not attain their 
ends by force."* They commenced by stealing the horse, 
goats, &c., belonging to the worthy missionary, and afterwards, 
to the number of about five hundred, made a violent assault 
upon the little encampment. The fire-arms of the defenders, 
resorted to only in the last extremity, produced their usual 
effect upon the naked savages, and a season of quiet ensued. 
Father Francisco Piccolo came over shortly after with further 

* Forbes' History of California. 



CALIFORNIA. 605 

stores, and the party proceeded to construct huts of stone and 
clay, for greater permanence, safety, and comfort. 

In October, 1699, Father Piccolo established the mission of 
San Xavier, on the Pacific, and from the two stations the mis- 
sionaries made expeditions on horseback up and down the 
peninsula, exploring the country and preaching to the natives, 
whose language they had by this time acquired. Father 
Ugarte, one of the original associates in the enterprise, who 
had previously been laboring in Mexico, came over to Califor- 
nia in the spring of 1701, and proved a most efficient ally in 
the work of conversion. He took up his abode with the 
Indians, without a single companion, among the mountains 
south-west of Loreto, and by the force of example and rewards, 
stimulated his wild associates to shake off their natural sloth, 
and aid him in erecting dwellings and a chapel for public 
worship. He was of a robust frame and hardy constitution, 
and was always foremost to undertake the labor and drudgery 
attendant upon the formation of the settlement. His greatest 
trouble, at first, was from an unconquerable tendency on the 
part of his auditors to jeer and laugh at his religious exer- 
cises, but the infliction of summary chastisement upon the 
strongest and most contumacious among them, speedily quelled 
their levity. 

This excellent and energetic ecclesiastic did not confine him- 
self to a care for the souls of his flock : he taught them the 
cultivation of the soil; he introduced the domestic animals of 
Europe ; and even brought over a weaver to teach the arts of 
spinning and manufacturing the wool obtained from his sheep. 
Slowly, but steadily, the missions continued to prosper; the 
fickle-minded aborigines were subdued and restrained by force 
or kindness as occasion required; and the general tenor of the 
lives of those engaged in the work of the missions, gave evi- 
dence that their motives were pure, and that they had the 
interests of their proselytes at heart. 

In the year 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled from tlie 
territory, and superseded by Mexican Franciscan?, there were 



t)U(J NORTH AXD SOUTH AMERICA. 

sixteen missions in Old California : these were within a few 
years afterwards mostly brought under the control of Domin- 
ican monks. The advance of the natives in the scale of civ- 
ilization has proved by no means commensurate with the 
exertions and anticipations of the early missionaries. Accord- 
ing to Forbes, the whole population of Lower California did 
not, in 1839, exceed ten or fifteen thousand, and the native 
inhabitants were generally in a miserable and abject position. 
"Most of the missions," he says, "are in a wretched condition, 
and the Indians, poor and helpless, slaves both in body aud 
mind, have no knowledge and no will but those of the Friars." 

The inhospitable nature of the country on the peninsula 
seems to preclude the probability of any important increase in 
its population, so long as an unlimited field for enterprise lies 
open in the rich mines and fertile plains of New or Upper 
California. The first settlement of this portion of the western 
coast, like that of Lower California, was due, although at a 
later date, to missionary labors. It was commenced immedi- 
ately subsequent to the period when the Jesuits, as before 
mentioned, were expelled from their missions at the south, and 
was undertaken by the Franciscans, under the patronage and 
by the assistance of the Mexican viceroy, the Marquis de Croix. 

A settlement was formed at San Diego, in 1769, and during 
the summer of the same year, a party of about sixty persons, 
including soldiers, priests, and Indians, was dispatched hj land 
to explore and settle the country in the vicinity of the bay of 
Monterey. Passing that harbor, which they could not recog- 
nize from the descriptions given by former voyagers, the com- 
pany visited the beautiful bay of San Francisco, and bestowed 
upon it the name which it still bears, in honor of the patron 
saint of the order to which the ecclesiastics of the part}' be- 
longed. Having set up a cross, and taken formal possession 
of the country, they set out on their return, and reached San 
Diego on the 24th of January, 1770. 

At this post the Indians, notwithstanding the kindness and 
generosit}' which was extended towards tliem, had tl'owu 



CALIFORNIA. 60 7 

tliemselves tliievish and hostile, and made several attempts to 
overjjower and destroy the Spaniards, In one of these actions, 
while the little band of adventurers was making a valiant 
defence against a host of savages, it is told by the historian, 
Father Palou, that "a boy, called Joseph, came running in 
great haste, and prostrated himself at the feet of our venerable 
President, saying, 'Father, give me absolution, for the Indians 
Lave killed me.' The good father absolved him, and he died 
immediately, an arrow having passed through his throat, but 
his death was kept secret." The Indians came a few days 
afterwards, soliciting peace, and asking the assistance of the 
Spanish surgeon to cure their wounded men. The readiness 
with which this aid was afforded pi'oduced its natural effect 
upon the minds of the savages, and they made some exhibition 
of gratitude, but it was with the greatest difficulty that their at- 
tention could be drawn to the^doctrines and rites of the church. 
The mission at Montere}'' was founded in the month of May, 
1770 ; two parties having proceeded thither from San Diego, one 
by land and the other by sea. The voyage occupied forty-six 
days: the president. Father Serra, in a letter written shortly 
after the arrival, says: "On the 81st day of May, by the fjivor 
of God, after rather a painful voyage of a month and a half, 
the packet San Antonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, 
arrived and anchored in this horrible port of Monterey, which 
is unaltered in any degree from what it was when visited by 
the expedition of Don Sebastian Yiscayno, in the year 1603." 
The land party had already arrived, and the work of erecting 
the necessary buildings was commenced. The conversion of 
the natives progressed but slowly, none of them being bap- 
tized prior to the 26th of the ensuing December. No delay 
or discouragement, however, could damp the ardor of the 
zealous missionaries, and, in the midst of destitution, little 
short of actual starvation, they continued their efforts to 
impress somewhat of their own reverence for holy rites and 
symbols on the rude minds of the savages. It is to be 
feared that their success was for the most part rather in estab- 



608 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

listing a conformity to outward signs, than in any really bene- 
ficial instruction. 

At the death of the President Junipero Serra, there were 
eight missions in operation, of which the principal were those 
at San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and San Gabriel- 
Under his successors, the whole country upon the coast of 
Upper California was brought into complete subjection to the 
missions. These were assisted, and, in a manner, supported 
by a fund raised by donations and bequests in Mexico, de- 
nominated the "California Pious Fund." The missionaries 
also received a certain regular stipend from the Spanish crown . 
It was the policy of the priests to discourage the immigration 
of free settlers, as being likely to interfere with their own 
supremacy, and they had, as appears, acquired some species 
of title to most of the valuable lands. 

After the Mexican revolution, California was placed under a 
territorial government, and some steps were taken to bring about 
an emancipation of the natives from the temporal and spirit- 
ual thraldom to which they had been so long subjected. It 
was found, however, upon trial, "that these people, who had 
always been accustomed to the care and disciphne of school- 
boj^s, finding themselves their own masters, indulged freely in 
those excesses which it had been the endeavors of their tutora 
to repress, and that many, having gambled away their clothes, 
implements, and even their land, were compelled to beg or to 
plunder, in order to support life."* The reverend fathers 
were therefore restored to their authority, and to their salaries, 
which had been for the time kept back. After supplies had 
nearly ceased to be furnished by Mexico, the increase in the 
value of land, and other property, was sufiicient to furnish the 
missions with abundant support. 

A law was afterwards passed by the Mexican congress, 

"for entirely removing the missionaries, dividing the lands 

and cattle among the Indians and settlers, and appropriating 

their funds in Mexico to the use of the state." A large num- 

* Captain Beecliy's Voyage to the Pacific. 



CALIFORXIA. 609 

ber of emigrants were furnislied with free passage, for the 
purpose of supphanting the missionaries: among these, says 
Forbes, "There were to be seen goldsmiths proceeding to a 
country where no gold or silver existed, (!) blacksmiths to 
where no horses are shod or iron used, carpenters to whcie 
only huts without furniture were erected," &c., &c. Santa 
Anna, upon his assumption of power, put an immediate stop 
to the proposed sequestration of the Church property, and the 
emigrants were finally compelled to return to Mexico. 



The release of Upper California from the imbecile but 
tyrannical government of Mexico, and from the spiritual dom- 
ination of the priesthood, by its union with the United States, 
would alone have constituted a new era in the history of its 
settlement and civilization; but since to this great political 
cliange has been added the development of its boundless 
wealth in the precious metals, its progress has been unparal- 
leled. That these treasures should have remained so long 
concealed from the occupants of the territory seems unaccount- 
able, when we consider the proverbial keenness of the Span- 
iard in the search for native gold, and the experience acquired 
by centuries of practical operations in the mines of Mexico 
and Peru. The fact only proves how completely the country 
was neglected by the more enterprising and efficient portion 
of the community. 

The first discovery of gold in California, in sufficient quan- 
tity to excite public attention, was made in the spring of 1848, 
by Mr. James Marshall, who had been employed by Captain 
John A. Sutter, to erect a saw-mill upon the south branch of 
the "Rio de Los Americanos," or American Fork, a tributary 
of the Sacramento, flowing' from the eastward. The loca- 
tion of the mill was about fifty miles from New Helvetia, or 
Sutter's Fort. One of the earliest authentic reports of the 
commencement and progress of the mining enterprise is a 
89 • 



610 NORTH AND SOUTH a:meiuca. 

letter of Colonel R. B. Mason, governor of California, to the 
adjutant-general at Washington, dated August, 18-i8. In 
describing his first visit to the diggings, he says: "As we 
ascended the south branch of the American Fork, the country 
became more broken and mountainous, and at the saw-mill, 
twenty-five miles below the lower washings, or fifty miles 
from Sutter's, the hills rise to about a thousand feet above the 
level of the Sacramento plain. Here a species of pine occurs, 
which led to the discovery of the gold. Captain Sutter, feel- 
ing the great want of lumber, contracted in September last 
with a Mr. Marshall to build a saw-mill at that place. It was 
erected in the course of the last winter and spring — a dam 
and race constructed; but when the water was let on the 
wheel, the tail-race was found too narrow to allow the water 
to escape with sufficient rapidity. Mr. Marshall, to save labor, 
let the water directly into the race with a strong current, so 
as to wash it wider and deeper. He effected his purpose, and 
a large bed of mud and gravel was carried to the foot of the 
race. One day, as Mr. Marshall was walking down the race 
to this deposit of mud, he observed some glittering particles 
at its upper edge ;■' he gathered a few, examined them, and 
became satisfied of their value. He then w^ent to the fort, 
told Captain Sutter of his discovery, and they agreed to keep 
it secret until a certain grist-mill of Sutter's was finished. It, 
however, got out, and spread like magic. Remarkable suc- 
cess attended the labors of the first explorers, and in a few 
weeks hundreds of men were drawn thither. At the time of 
my first visit, but little more than three months after its first 
discovery, it was estimated that upwards of four thousand 
people were employed." 

From this period, every thing connected with the Califor- 
•nian settlements took a new aspect. The villages which had 
sprung up since the acquisition of the country by the United 
States, were mostly deserted; the crops were left ungathered; 
tlie crews of the vessels lying in port deserted; labor could 
be procured only at the most exorbitant prices; in shoj't, 



CALIFORNIA. 611 

nearly the whole male population had hurried to the mines, 
and, regardless of hardship, fatigue, exposure and sickness, 
were engaged in the all-absorbing pursuit of gold. 

The extent of the gold region has not yet been fully ascer- 
tained, but it is certain that it spreads over a tract many 
hundred miles in length. Although the first operations were 
mostly of the simplest kind, and were carried on without 
system, by means of the rudest implements, the yield was 
enormous. When all the appliances of machinery, systematic 
labor, and economical treatment of the ore and washings, shall 
be fully introduced, the amount to be procured outstrips all 
calculation. Whether the estimates, as to the permanent value 
of the gold mines, be correct or not, the effect of the appa- 
rently unwholesome excitement produced by their discovery 
must be permanently beneficial. The country affords fine 
facilities for agricultural operations, and through its sea-ports 
an immense traffic must hereafter flow in from China and the 
Indies. With the increasing population, the employment of 
mining must be exchanged by thousands for the more essential 
labors of husbandry. 

The change already produced in the principal towns is 
astonishing: the harbors, which so short a period since gave 
shelter to a few trading vessels, are now crowded with shipping 
from every quarter of the globe ; towns have sprung up, as if by 
magic, where a cluster of white tents, but a few months earlier, 
marked the spot for a convenient dc'^pot; a strange conflux of 
every nation and tongue has peopled the long-undisturbed sol- 
itude; representatives by thousands from every state in our 
Union, are engaged with Europeans, with the wild aboriginal 
inhabitants, and with swarthy immigrants from the Asiatic 
coast and the Pacific islands, in one common pursuit. We 
forbear to give statistics of population or produce : in the midst 
of such continual and startling changes, accuracy is impossible; 
and even if attained, the details might appear, a few months 
later, like an antiquated and useless record. 



COLONEL FREMONT'S EXPLORATIONS. 



THE EXPEDITION OF 1842 TO THE GREAT SOUTH PASS THAT OF 1843-4 

TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER, AND THE RETURN THROUGH ALTA 

CALIFORNIA EXPLORATIONS OF A SOUTHERN ROUTE 

ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

To the energy, talent, and enterprise, of the Hon. John 
Charles Fremont we stand indebted for the most important 
discoveries and surveys of the AVestern territory of the United 
States, since the great expedition of Lewis and Clarke. The 
first field of his public services was the country around the 
head- waters of the Mississippi, in the survey of which he acted 
as an assistant. After receiving the commission of a lieutenant 
in the corps of topographical engineers, he undertook an expe- 
dition, in 1842, under the instructions of government, to ex- 
amine the country between the Missouri frontier and the Great 
South Pass, in the Rocky Mountains. 

On the 10th of June, the party, consisting of twenty-five 
men, most of whom were Canadian and Creole voyageurs^ set 
out from a post ten miles above the mouth of the Kansas river. 
The celebrated Christopher Carson (known as Kit Carson) offi- . 
ciated as guide. Eight mule-carts, loaded with instruments and 
baggage, with a few spare horses and four oxen for provision, 
were the only encumbrances ; the whole party, with the excep- 
tion of the cart-drivers, were well armed and mounted. After 
crossing the Kansas, the party took up their line of march over 
the prairie in a north-westerly direction to the Platte river, 
which was reached on the 26th, at a distance of more tlian 
three hundred miles from the point of departure. They fol- 
lowed the course of the South Fork to Fort St. Vrain, at the 
foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they arrived on the 10th 



/ vr;p:'«!W«tr>;ra'«Hf r;;^**^^^* ..i 




COLONEL FKEMONT's EXPLORATIONS. 613 

of July. Many interesting descriptions are recorded of the 
Indians encountered on the route: among other incidents, a 
spirited account is given of a buffalo hunt by a party of Arap- 
ahoes, whose village, on the Platte, was passed upon the 8th. 
As soon as they were conscious of danger, in the words of 
the narrative, "the buffalo started for the hills, but were inter- 
cepted and driven back toward the river, broken and running 
in every direction. The clouds of dust soon covered the whole 
sceue, preventing us from having any but an occasional view. 
* * At every instant, through the clouds of dust whicli 
the sun made luminous, we could see for a moment two or 
three buffalo dashing along, and close behind them an Indian 
with his long spear, or other weapon, and instantly again they 
disappeared." 

Fremont with his little company reached the South Pass 
about the middle of August, and commenced a scientific ex- 
ploration of the rugged mountain district through which it 
leads, "lie not only fixed the locality and character of that 
great pass, through which myriads are now pressing to Califor- 
nia, but defined the astronomy, geography, botany, geology, 
meteorology, of the country, and designated the route since 
followed, and the points from which the flag of the Union is 
now flying from a chain of wilderness fortresses. His report 
was printed by the Senate, and translated into foreign lan- 
guages, and the scientific world looked on Fremont as one of 
its benefactors."* 

The expedition of 1843-4 was far more extensive, interest- 
ing, and important than the one which preceded it. Its object 
was "to connect the reconnoissance of 1842 with the surveys 
of Commander Wilkes on the coast of the Pacific ocean, so as 
to give a connected survey of the interior of our continent." 
In entering upon this arduous undertaking, Colonel Fremont 
determined to attempt a new route over the Rocky Mountains, 
southward of the main pass, in hopes of discovering an easier 
thoroughfare to Oregon and California. On the 29th of May, 

* Lester, in the "Gallery of Illustrious Americans." 



614 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

■with a company of thirty-nine men, many of whom had accom- 
panied him in 1842, he set out from the former point of de- 
parture. A detour through the mountains brought them upon 
the waters of the Bear river, which they followed to its de- 
bouchement into the Great Salt Lake. In a frail boat of 
inflated India-rubber cloth, a partial survey was effected of this 
remarkable phenomenon of nature, concerning which the only 
knowledge before obtained had been from the Avild reports of 
the Indians and hunters who had occasionally \'isited^ it. 
Little did the adventurous explorers dream of the change that 
a few years would bring about upon those remote and desolate 
shores. The party left their camp by the Lake on the 12 th of 
September, and, proceeding northward, reached the plains of the 
Columbia on the 18th, "in sight of the famous ^ Three Buttes,^ 
a well-known land-mark in the country, distant about forty- 
five miles." 

In the month of November, having reached Fort Vancouver, 
and fLiUy accomplished the duties assigned him. Colonel Fre- 
mont set out on his return by a new and dangerous route. 
Nothing but a perusal of the journal of the expedition can 
convey an adequate idea of the dangers and difficulties attend- 
ant upon the remainder of this enterprise, in which the com- 
plete circuit was made of that immense and unexplored basin 
lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Wahsatch or Bear 
River range of the Rocky Mountains; a region thus laid down 
in Fremont's chart: "The Great Basin: diameter 11^ of lati- 
tude: elevation above the sea, between 4 and 5000 feet: sur- 
rounded by lofty mountains: contents almost unknown, but 
believed to be filled with rivers and lakes which have no com- 
munication with the sea, deserts and oases which have never 
been explored, and savage tribes which no traveller has seen 
or described." 

The following synopsis of the narrative of Fremont's return 
from the Pacific to the States is from the pen of the popular 
author before cited: "It was the beginning of winter. With- 
out resources, adequate supplies, or even a guide, and with 



COLO^'EL FKEAIONT's EXl'LOllATlONS. 615 

only twenty-five companions, he turned his face once more 
towards the Rocky Mountains. Then began that wonderful 
expedition, filled with romance, achievement, daring, and suffer- 
ing, in which he was lost from the world nine months, travers- 
ing three thousand five hundred miles in sight of eternal snows; 
ill which he explored and revealed the grand features of Alta 
California, its great basin, the Sierra Nevada, the valleys of 
San Joaquin and Sacramento, exploded the fabulous Biena- 
ventura, revealed the real El Dorado, and established the 
geography of the western part of this continent." 

The account of the terrible passage of the Sierra Nevada in 
the months of February and March, is one of the most thrilling 
narratives ever recorded of the triumph of heroic endurance 
over every conceivable difficulty. The ascent was commenced 
on the 2d of February; the Indian guide "shook his head as 
he pointed to the icy pinnacles, shooting high up into the sky," 
and opposing an apparently insuperable barrier to further pro- 
gress. After weeks of toil and suffering, subsisting upon their 
mules and horses, for whom it was almost impossible to procure 
sufficient grass and herbage to support life, the party descended 
the western slope of the Sierra, Two of the men had lost their 
reason from suffering and anxiety : one of them, Derosier, who 
had stayed behind for the purpose of bringing up a favorite 
horse of Colonel Fremont, on rejoining the party, in the words 
of the narrative, "came in, and sitting down by the fire, began 
to tell us where he had been. He imagined he had been gone 
several days, and thought we were still at the camp where 
he had left us; and we were pained to see that his mind was 
deranged. * * The times were severe when stout men lost 
their minds from extremity of suffering — when horses died — 
and when mules and horses, ready to die of starvation, were 
killed for food. Yet there was no murmuring or hesitation." 

"In August, 1844, Colonel Fremont was again in Washing- 
ton, after an absence of sixteen months. His report put the 
seal to the fame of the young explorer. He was planning &■ 
third expedition while writing a history of the second; and 



610 xon;ii axd soutii a^ietiica. 

before its publication, hi 1845, he was again on bis way to tbe 
Pacific, collecting his mountain comrades, to examine in de- 
tail the Asiatic slope of the North American continent, which 
resulted in giving a volume of new science to the world, and 
California to the United States."* 

The events immediately succeeding, although highly inter- 
esting, as connected with the most important particulars in the 
political history of the United States, are beyond our limits to 
record. It is sufficient to state that throughout the difficulties 
in which Colonel Fremont was involved, and the lengthened 
examination to which he was subjected before a court-martial, 
the sympathies of the public were generally enlisted in his 
behalf. 

As a private citizen, he contemplated yet another survey of 
a southern route through the western territory to California, 
and we cannot sufficiently admire the ardor and self-reliance 
with which he entered upon the undertaking, after such fearful 
experience of the dangers attendant on attempting an un- 
known passage of the great mountain ranges which must be 
crossed. To resume the remarks of Mr. Lester: "Again he 
appeared on the far west: his old mountaineers flocked around 
him: and, with thirty-three men and one hundred and thirty 
mules, perfectly equipped, he started for the Pacific. 

"On the Sierra San Juan all his mules and a third of his 
men perished in a more than Russian cold; and Fremont ar- 
rived on foot at Santa F6, stripped of every thing but life. It 
was a moment for the last pang of despair which breaks the 
heart, or the moral heroism which conquers fate itself. 

"The .men of the wilderness knew Fremont; they refitted 
his expedition; he started again, pierced the country of the 
fierce and remorseless Apaches ; met, awed, or defeated savage 
tribes; and in a hundred days from Sante F6 he stood on the 
glittering banks of the Sacramento." In the new State while 
he took up his abode, his popularity and prosperity have been 
unsurpassed. 

* Gallery of Illustrious Americans. 




1 \ 



VOL. JOliJ^ C. FHEMOJ^T. 



THE MORMON SETTLEMENTS.^ 



MORMONISM NAUVOO PERSECUTION EMIGRATION TO THE WEST 

PATRIOTIC CONDUCT SUFFERINGS — GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY 

SETTLEMENTS INCREASE PROVISION FOR IMMIGRATION 

NUMBER OF THE MORMONS THEIR POWER GOVERN- 
MENT POLYGAMY REFLECTIONS. 

To give any thing like a detailed account of the rise and 
progress of Mormonism, the wildest and most portentous delu- 
sion which, for several centuries, has appeared among mankind, 
and which pertains rather to a history of theology than of 
colonization, would far transcend the limits of our subject. 
Its late origin presents to the view all that is low and disgusting 
in barefaced trickery and imposture ; but its present j^osition, 
attained and upheld by fanaticism and sensuality, two of the 
most effective agents which can render evil powerful and error 
contagious, has assumed a character in some sort respectable, 
and undeniably formidable. Persecution has had its customary 
effect, in investing its victims with dignity, in arousing all 
their powers of resistance, and in awakening the sympathies 
of all averse to injustice. 

In other ages, this dangerous form of a religious mania 
would have had its legitimate manifestation in crusades against 
property, and in the foundation of a new state and church on 
the ruins of some weaker and less vigorous structure of super- 
stition ; at present, its more honorable and profitable mission 

* For the facts in the following brief uccount of Mormon colonization the 
writer has been mainly indebted to the very able and interesting re[>ort, by 
Captain Howard Stansbury, of his survey of Ihe Valley of the Great S. It Lake. 



G18 KOKTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

is to afford a field of harmless action for uneasy spirits, and to 
build up a new nation in the remotest wilderness. 

The foundation and wonderfully rapid growth of the city of 
Nauvoo, are sufficiently known, as well as the hostility excited 
in the people of Illinois by the aggressions of the new sect, and 
their alarm at its increasing power, both political and military. 
The murder of Joseph Smith, its founder and pretended prophet, 
in ISiJ-, was followed by fresh outrage and violence; and 
the members of the persecuted faction, the next year, in sol- 
emn council, resolved to abandon their flourishing capital, and 
the splendid temple which they had nearly completed, and to 
seek a refuge for their faith and their freedom in some yet un- 
peopled wilderness of the west. Their property and effects, at 
a great sacrifice, were exchanged for the materials requisite for 
their pilgrimage ; and in February, 1846, a considerable por- 
tion of the community crossed the Mississippi and migrated 
into Iowa. 

As the successor to their slaughtered hierarch, the Abu 
Beker of the modern Mahomet, they elected Brigham Young, 
an English Mormon, a man to great energy and sagacity, well 
fitted to maintain and extend the importance of his people; 
and, in the spring, reinforced by a great number of fellow-com- 
municants, resumed their march to the westward. After expe- 
riencing much suffering, and some further persecution, they 
finally passed the state limits, and on the banks of the Missouri 
enclosed land and commenced plantations — not for their own 
benefit, but for that of the companies who were to follow them. 
As they were resuming their march, a requisition, certainly 
cruelly mistimed, was made on them for five hundred men to 
serve in the war with Mexico. With an honorable and patri- 
otic readiness, they rendered instant compliance. "You shall 
have your battalion at once," said the energetic Young, "if it 
has to be a class of our elders." 

Few circumstances could better evince the indomitable nature 
of this strange people, or the truly manly qualities which they 
possess. "While in the heart of an Indian country, and on 



THE MORMON SETTLEMENTS. 619 

tlie eve of a long and uncertain pilgrimage into an unknown 
wilderness, they were suddenly called upon to surrender five 
hundred of their best men to the hazards of a hostile cam- 
paign, and to the exposure and vicissitudes of a march of two 
thousand miles, across trackless deserts and burning plains, to 
fight the battles of their country."* Despite the obvious and 
apparently insurmountable objections to a compliance, within 
three days the requisite force, consisting chiefly of fathers of 
families, was ready for the march. 

This noble promptitude of loyalty deserves the highest 
honor; but its fulfilment occasioned the greatest distress to the 
whole community. The expedition, for the time, was broken 
up, and during the severe winter which ensued, great numbers 
of those who remained, (principally old men, women, and 
children,) perished of sickness, occasioned by exposure and 
privation. 

In th» spring of 1847, a pioneer company of one hundred 
and forty-three men, with many wagons, horses and cattle, set 
forth to seek, beyond the Rocky Mountains, the site of a new 
home for the exiled believers. They took their route up the 
Platte river, which they passed at Fort Laramie, and, crossing 
the mountains by the South Pass, after a toilsome journey of 
three months and a half, on the 21st of July reached the 
valley of the Great Salt Lake. The main bod}', three days 
afterwards, came up, and, with solemn ceremonies, the site of a 
capital was laid out. 

This adventurous Exodus, the most remarkable in the history 
of our country, was the signal for a multitudinous emigration 
of the obnoxious sect. In the following October, three or four 
thousand more arrived, and building and agriculture were car- 
ried on* with such spirit, that by the following summer, a fort 
and numerous dwellings were erected, and six thousand acres 
of land were under cultivation. Meanwhile, these unfortunate 
people suffered great extremities from hunger, and were reduced 
to living upon roots dug from the ground, and the hides of 

* Stansbury's Report. 



620 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

animals stript from the roofs of their cabins. The crop of 1848, 
however, afforded them abundant supplies, and numerous set- 
tlements were made in the vicinity of the city, or in eligible 
spots at a considerable distance. 

" The mode adopted for the founding of a new town," says 
Captain Stansbury, "is peculiar and highly characteristic. An 
expedition is first sent out to explore the country, with a view 
to the selection of such points as, from their natural advantages, 
offer facilities for a settlement. These being duly reported to 
the authorities, an elder of the church is appointed to preside 
over the little band designated to make the first improvement. 
This company is composed partly of volunteers, and partly of 
such as are selected by the presidency, due regard being had 
to a proper intermixture of mechanical artizans, to render the 
expedition independent of all aid from without. In this way 
the settlement at San Pete was begun, sixty families leaving 
in a body, under one of the high Officers of the church, "-and that 
in the mouth of October, undergoing all the rigors of cold and 
snow, to establish another 'stake' in the wilderness. In De- 
cember of the following year, another expedition, similarly 
composed and commanded, succeeded, with one hundred and 
thirty men and families, in planting the settlement at Little 
Salt Lake, which is represented as being now in a very flour- 
ishing condition. The succeeding March, a third party, with 
a hundred and fifty wagons, left the capital for the purpose of 
establishing a settlement in the southern part of California. It 
was to be situated at no great distance from San Diego" (on 
the Pacific). 

These arduous undertakings, evincing such vigor, resolution 
and sagacity, are all carried on in direct furtherance of the 
rapid formation of a state. "It is the ultimate object of the 
Mormons," says the same authority, "by means of stations, 
wherever the nature of the country will admit of their settling 
in numbers sufficient for self-defence, to establish a line of 
communication with the Pacific, so as to afford aid to their 
brethren coming from abroad, while on their pilgrimage to 



THE MORMON SETTLEMENTS. * 621 

the land of promise. These stations will gradually become 
connected by farms and smaller settlements, wherever practi- 
cable, until the greater part of the way will exhibit one long 
line of cultivated fields from the Mormon capital to San Diego." 

Numerous emigrants continued to arrive: and in March, 
18-i9, a general convention of the Mormons was held at Great 
Salt Lake City, the capital of the rising republic. This body, 
professing full allegiance to the United States' Constitution, re- 
solved, until provision for their government should be made by 
the proper authority, to establish themselves as a body politic, 
under the title of the State of Deseret ; officers were appointed, 
and a memorial for a confirmation of their acts and the appoint- 
ment -of authorities was forwarded to Congress. 

The colony continued to increase with extraordinary rapidity. 
The population of the capital, that same year, was estimated 
at eight thousand, and the total amount of that distributed 
through the Valley is now computed to be upwards of twenty 
thousand. This number is receiving large and constant acces- 
sions from the numerous churches of converts which the Mor- 
mon missionaries, with indefatigable zeal, have made in various 
parts of the world. Fourteen thousand, it is estimated, have 
arrived in this country from England alone, and of these, the 
greater number have probably gone, or are on their way, to 
the Valley of the Salt Lake. 

"In the meanwhile, preparations are industriously making 
in the valley for the reception and immediate accommodation 
of the coming tide, by the building of houses, sowing large 
quantities of grain, the erection of mills, the establishment of 
manufactures, the importation of labor-saving machinery, and 
the establishment, on a solid basis, of the means of education. 
The manifest object of these harmoniously-concerted move- 
ments, is to concentrate, as speedily as possible, in 'the Valley 
of the Mountains,,' a number sufficiently great to entitle the 
present Territory of Utah to demand from the General Gov- 
ernment admission into the Union, as one of the sovereign 
States of the confederacy, and thus to secure to themselves 



622 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

unmolested the riglit to carry out in practice the peculiar 
principles of their creed. * * * While all these 
exertions are making for the physical development of a new- 
empire among the mountains, the mental elevation of the 
people by education has been by no means lost sight of. Lib- 
eral appropriations of land and money have been made for 
the establishment of a university, the grounds for which are 
laid out and enclosed, being situated on one of the terraces of 
the mountain overlooking the city. A normal school, de- 
signed for the education of those who desire to become teach- 
ers, is already in successful operation. School-houses have 
been built in most of the districts, both in the city and coun- 
try, which are attended by old as well as young, and every effort 
is made to advance the mental improvement of the people."* 

The situation of the chief city of the Mormons is described 
as extremely beautiful, lying at the foot of mountains and 
watered by delightful streams. The plan is laid out on a 
scale of extraordinary grandeur and convenience, and a temple 
of portentous dimensions, it is said, will be erected for the 
honor of the faith. These designs, however apparently dis- 
proportioned to their means, will undoubtedly, in the end, be 
carried out by a people who have already evinced such cour- 
age, enterprise, and industry; whose proselytes, it is said, are 
already numbered by hundreds of thousands; and whose entire 
resources are under the control of a single bold, active, and. 
energetic will. 

A union of church and state so complete as the Mormon 
community presents, has probably never been witnessed since 
the early days of Mahometanism — to which, indeed, in many 
points^it bears a most striking resemblance, Brigham Young, 
the first elected president, (and since appointed by President 
Fillmore as territorial governor,) is not only the head of the 
state, with almost unlimited power, but is , regarded as father- 
confessor, high-priest, and prophet of God to the whole people. 
All subordinate offices are lodged in the hands of other church- 

* Stansbury's Report. 



THE MORMOX SETTLE^EENT. 623 

dignitaries, and tliis perfect amalgamation of spiritual and 
civil authority has resulted in the establishment of an ecclesi- 
astical power, the most formidable which, in modern times, 
has ever been wielded by a fanatical or ambitious few. 

This power, amounting, in effect, to absolute dictatorship, 
has been, it must be allowed, for the most part, hitherto 
wielded in a manner worthy of high admiration. President 
Young has evinced a remarkable talent for government, and 
a most paternal care for the interests of his people. Great 
improvements and public enterprises are in the course of ac- 
tive progression, and the country, with surprising rapidity, is 
becoming prepared for the reception of the multitude of emi- 
grants already on their way to the City of Refuge. 

The last five years have witnessed two simultaneous move- 
ments, resulting in the formation of states in the wilderness, 
each nearly in the same direction, and each distinguished by 
a suddenness and completeness of success, unparalleled in the 
history of colonization. Of these, the main-spring of the 
first, the universal love of gold, may be seen at a glance, and 
lies patent to the dullest observer; but what depth of philoso- 
phy is so profound, what knowledge of human nature so 
extensive, as to analyze the motives of the multitudes now 
flocking from so many parts of the world, to cast their lots in 
a community whose origin is debased by the grossest and most 
glaring imposture, and whose present position offers little, 
for a series of years, but toil, privation, and a surrender 
of all superfluities to the engrossing spirit of an ambitious 
hierarchal superstition. It can hardly be doubted that tlie 
polygamy allowed by the new religion is, with a certain class 
of minds, a 'very powerful incentive for conversion to its 
tenets, and a strong prompter to fierceness and resolution in 
defending them. But this of itself is entirely unsatisfactory 
in explanation of that stern and eager enthusiasm which, 
beyond any other of our times, has distinguished the present 
manifestation. Men who wish for several wives will do much 
to obtain them, and to keep them, but hardlj' what the >r()r- 



62-1 NORTH AXD SOUTH AMERICA, 

mons have done and are doing. It is an article of faith not 
exactly suited to the production of heroes or of martyrs ; and 
that the elements of such, in great numbers, may be found in 
the Mormon ranks, no man conversant with their history will 
deny. A spirit of deeper and more respectable error — the 
spirit of faith and fanaticism, almost invariably fierce, vehe- 
ment, and enduring, in proportion to the folly and puerility 
of its creed — has been the main-spring of this extraordinary 
movement, and remains a problem, as insoluble as any of the 
same class which have preceded it. 

Whatever the originating causes, the result undoubtedly 
will be, that within a very brief term of years a new state, 
ft^rmidable both in its numbers and in the marvellous tie which 
leagues them together, will be knocking for admission at the 
door of the Union. Whether a community, so constituted as 
to render a residence in its midst intolerable to strangers and 
"outsiders,"- will be intrusted with the political power which it 
will demand, seems very questionable. The "saints," if once 
invested with the sovereign authority of a state government, 
would unquestionably employ all its resources, indiscrimi- 
nately levied from all within their limits, in support of an out- 
rageous hierarchal despotism. They already proclaim that, 
when possessed of the desired power to enact criminal lav/s, 
any interference with the fidelity of their respective harems 
will be a matter punishable by death. Whether an institu- 
tion, arranged with such oriental strictness, shall be permitted 
to fortify itself by the terrors of penal legislation, will be a ques- 
tion for the attention of a congress sitting at no distant day. 

In the meantime, it would appear that the spirit of intoler- 
ance rears its head with surprising boldness and confidence. 
This is sufficiently evinced in the treatment of the territorial 
judges and secretary, lately appointed by the president of the 
United States, but, unfortunately for their own comfort, not 
of the Mormon persuasion. These high functionaries, if we 
may trust their statement, met with such abusive treatment 
from the holy men among whom they had been sent, tliat, in 




\ ,.r.rr^^ y^--' 



THE MORMON SETTLEMENT. 625 

peril of their lives, they were compelled to return. According 
to their account, the governor set their authority at naught, 
seized all the public moneys, and declared, with much cursing 
and reviling, that the power of the church was paramount to all 
government. The prevalence of polygamy afforded them, as 
may be supposed, additional matter of animadversion; and 
they were especially scandalized at seeing an omnibus, freighted 
with thirteen of his excellency's wives, (each holding a pledge 
of connubial affection,) solemnly paraded through the streets 
of the sacred capital. 
40 



THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



"How shall I admire your valour and courage, yee Marine Worthies, beyond all 
names of worthinesse ; that neither dread so long either presence nor absence of the 
Sunne, nor those foggie mists, tempessiuous windes, cold blasts, snowe« and haile in 
the aire ; nor the vnequall Seas, where the Triions and Neptune's selfe would 
quake with chilling feare to behold such monstrous Icie Hands, mustering themselves 
in those watery plaines, where they hold a continuall ciuill warre, rushing one vpon 
another, making wifldes and waues giue back ; nor the rigid ragged face of the broken 
lands, sometimes towering themselues to a loftie height, to see if they can finde refuge 
from those snowes and colds that continually beat them, sometimes hiding them- 
selues vnder some hollow hills or cliffes, sometimes sinking and shrinking into vnl- 
leyes, looking pale with snowes, and falling in frozen and dead swounes ; sometimes 
breaking their neckes into the sea, rather embracing the waters' than the aires' 
crueltie, &c., &c.,&c. * * GVea< GOD, to whom all names of greatnesse 
are Httle, and lesse than nothing, let me in silence admire thy greatnesse, that in 
this little heart of man (not able to serve a Kite for a break-fast) hast placed such 
greatnes of spirit, as the world is too little to fill." — Purchas his Pilgrimage. 

CHAPTER I. 

ANCIENT EXPEDITIONS. 

Nearly three centuries ago, Sir Martin Frobisher said of 
the discovery of a North-west Passage, that "it was the only 
thing left undone, whci^by a notable mind might become 
famous and fortunate." The hope of effecting this grand 
achievement, ever since an ignis fatuus to many brave and 
honorable minds, he was the first seriously to entertain, and 
jesolutely and perseveringly to follow. 

Some unimportant voyages, in the same direction, had indeed 

ralready been undertaken. In 1527, two vessels, the Dominns 

Vobiscum* and another, had been dispatched by Henry VIII., 

with "divers cunning men," (one was a canon of St. Pauls!) 

* T'liv Lord bu with you." 



THE XOKTIl-WEST TASSAGE. 627 

to tlie northern coasts of America; but one of tliem was ship- 
wrecked, and nothing of importance was learned. Another 
voyage, equally futile and disastrous, was undertaken, nine 
years afterwards, by a company of adventurous spirits, among 
whom were many young lawyers and gentlemen of family. 
They were reduced to much distress, and some of them even 
resorted to cannibalism. They returned to England in wretched 
condition. 

For many years, the chief energies of English navigators 
were directed to the accomplishment of north-eastern voyages, 
and it was not until 1576 that another attempt was made in 
the former direction. Martin Frobisher, afterwards so widely 
renowned for his naval exploits in almost every sea, had, from 
his youth upward, been enthusiastically sanguine in his hope 
of solving the great secret of the Arctic Zone. For fifteen 
years, he had vainly besought the means requisite for his ad- 
venturous scheme, and at last, by the favor of the earl of 
Warwick, was enabled to fit out a little flotilla of three vessels, 
the largest of which was thirty -five tons, and the smallest only 
ten. With this diminutive squadron, in size less respectable 
than a batch of fishing smacks, on the 19th of June, 1576, he 
sailed from Yarmouth to attempt a passage around the North 
of America. In reviewing the history of these early expedi- 
tions, the most casual reader must be struck with the humble 
and insignificant means with which the grandest enterprises 
were attempted and often accomplished. Columbus, amid the 
storms of a most tempestuous winter, made his way back to 
Europe, after his great discovery, in an open caravel; Hudson, 
with only ten men, undertook "to find a passage to India by 
way of the north pole;" and the good Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
after voyaging safely to Newfoundland, in his little Squirrel 
(of only ten tons), was finally whelmed in a tremendous gale 
beneath the "pyramid-like" seas of the Atlantic. 

By the 11th of July, Frobisher made the southern extrem- 
ity of Greenland, fearful from the height of its preci})itous 
mountains, covered with eternal snow. Still pressing to the 



C23 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

westward, on the 18tli of August lie made land, somewhere, 
it is probable, in the vicinity of Labrador. Here, for the first 
time, the Esquimaux were seen by Europeans. The captain, 
we are told, "went on shore, and was encountred with mightie 
Deere, which i-annc at him, with danger of his life. Here had 
he sight of the Sauages, which rowed to his Shippe in Boates 
of Seales Skinnes, with a Keele of wood within them. They 
eate raw Flesh and Fish, or rather deuoured the same: they 
had long black hayre, broad faces, flat noses, tawnie of colour, 
or like an Oliue." 

Five of his men, incautiously joining a party of these sav- 
ages, were carried off by them, and all the exertions of Fro- 
bisher to recover them were in vain. On the 26th he sailed 
for England; and, passing Greenland and Iceland, in the be- 
ginning of October reached the port of Harwich. The coun- 
try he had discovered was named Mata Incognita^ and public 
expectation was raised to a considerable height by a bit of 
glittering stone wliicli he brought home, and which the igno- 
rant goldsmiths confidently pronounced to be gold ore. 

1-toyal aid, stimulated by this allurement, was now vouch- 
safed to the enterprise. Queen Elizabeth furnished him a ship 
of a hundred and eighty tons, called the Ayde, (Aid?) with 
which, and with twd smaller craft, on the 26th of May, 1577, 
with "a merrie wind," he again set sail for the desolate seas 
of the North-west. Passing Fricsland, he stretched across to 
Labrador, and touched at the strait which still bears his name. 
Up this inlet he passed in a boat, supposing the laud on his 
left to be America, and that on the right Asia. A friendly 
intercourse with the natives ashore was .soon bj^ his indiscre- 
tion* converted into hostility, and he reached the boat with an 
arrow sticking in his leg. One of the Esquimaux, pursuing 
him, was captured by his people. 

Plenty of the glittering mineral, to their great joy, was dis- 
covered, and stowed aboard the ship ; nor was natural history 

* He had seized some of the Esquim.'iux, and attempted forcibly to drag 
them to his boat, that he might conciliate them ly presents 



THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 629 

without an acquisition, for, we are told, the voyagers "found a 
great dead Fish, round like a porcpis," (porpoise) "twelue foot 
long, huuing a Home of two yardes, lacking two ynches, 
growing out of the Snout, wreathed and straight, like a Waxe- 
Taper, and might be thought to be a Sea-Unicorne. It was 
reserued as a lewell by the Queene's commandement in her 
Wardrobe of Robes." These valuables being secured, and 
the strait being cleared of ice by a north-west blow, the adven- 
turers sailed westward for thirty leagues, confidently suppos- 
ing that it led to the Pacific. 

In some boats of the natives, they found various European 
articles, which, doubtless, had belonged to their unfortunate 
countrymen lost there the year before. To rescue them, if 
captive, or, if slain, to revenge their death, a strong party set 
off inland, while Frobisher, with his boats, prevented any es- 
cape by sea. The Esquimaux, driven to bay, fought with 
great fury, even plucking the arrows from their bodies to 
launch them at the assailants, and when mortally wounded, 
flinging themselves desperately from the rocks into the sea. 
After losing five or six of their number, they finally gave 
ground, and took refuge among the inaccessible cliffs. All 
the men made good their retreat; but, says the journal of the 
voyage, "Two women, not being so apt to escape as the men 
were, the one being olde, the other encombred with a yong 
childe, we tooke. The olde wretch, whom divers of our Say- 
lers supposed to be eyther the Divell, or a witch, had her bus- 
kins plucked off, to see if she were cloven-footed, and for her ougly 
hewe and deformitie, we let her goe : the yong woman and 
the childe we brought away." 

That the worthy commander shared in the suspicions of his 
crew may be inferred from a further description of Esqui- 
maux diablerie, predicated on the experience of his voyages: 

" They are great Inchanters. When their heads ake, they 
tye a great stone with a string into a stick, and with certaine 
words effect, that the stone with all a man's force will not be 
lifted vp, and sometimes seems as light as a feather, hoping 



630 NORTH AXD SOUTH AMERICA. 

thereby to liaue lielpe. They made signes, lying grouelling 
with their faces vpon the grounde, making a noyse downe- 
ward, that they worship the Diuell vnder them." 

He gives the natives credit, however, for good manners, and 
says that his captives, both the male and female, "gaue such 
apparent signes of shamefastness and chastitie as might be a 
shame to Christians to come so short of them." 

In the course of a renewed attempt, by negotiation, to re- 
cover the missing men, the Esquimaux displayed eveiy device 
of savage stratagem to entrap their enemies — (putting tempt- 
ing bits of meat in range of an ambush, and pretending lame- 
ness, to decoy the English into their power) — and when foiled 
by the caution of the latter, assailed the vessels, in great num- 
bers, with their arrows. By the 21st of August, ice began to 
form around the ships, and it was considered hopeless, for the 
season, to proceed on the supposed passage to China. Accord- 
ingly, freighted with two hundred tons of the glittering dross 
mistaken for gold, the squadron returned to England. 

Strange to say, the delusion was not yet dispelled. ^Men 
of science, appointed by the queen, pronounced the ore genu- 
ine, and the passage to India feasible. Fifteen vessels were 
fitted out; and on the 81st of May, 1578, Frobisher, having 
kissed the queen's hand, and received a chain of gold, set 
forth in search of his Arctic El Dorado. A curious incident 
soon befell, quaintly narrated by an author of the day : 

" The Salamander, (one of their Shippes) being vnder both 
her Courses and Bonets, happened to strike on a great Whale, 
with her full Stemme, with suche a Blow that the Shippe stood 
Btill, and neither stirred backward or forward. The "Whale 
tlicreat made a great and hideous noyse, and casting vp his 
hK]y and tayle, presently sank vnder water. Within two 
dayes they found a Whale dead, which they supposed wa? 
this which the Salamander had stricken." 

The fleet encountered great danger from a tempest which 
overtook it among icebergs, and at last entered a great strait 
to the westward, probably the chief entrance to Hudson's Bay. 



THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 631 

Had he pressed on, the honor of discovering that northern 
Mediterranean would have fallen to Frobisher; but, finding, 
after sailing westward a considerable distance, that he was not 
in his former track, he put about, and retraced his course to 
the ojjen sea. He was so long in finding the desired entrance, 
that winter (August 9th) was upon him; and the fears of his 
associates compelled the return of the squadron without the 
accomplishment of any thing worthy of the magnitude of the 
equipment, or the enterprise of its commander. 

Meanwhile, the glittering trash which he had formerly 
brought, was discovered to be worthless; the public was dis- 
couraged ; and, though he strenuously advocated another trial 
of the passage which he had lately discovered, he could not 
obtain the requisite assistance. After a life passed in naval 
adventure and warfare, he perished, in 1594, from a wound 
received on the coast of France. 

In 1585, John Davis, an excellent seaman, and a man of 
kindly disposition, was put in command of two little vessels, 
the Sunshine and Moonshine, to effect further discoveries. To 
propitiate the natives, he took with him various presents, and 
a band of music to soften and harmonize the churlishness of 
their disposition. He sailed on the 7th of June, and coasted 
along the dreary shores of Greenland, on the west, to latitude 
sixty-four degrees. Here he landed, and, what with his good- 
nature, and the alluring music of his band, (to which his people 
danced in token of amity,) was soon on excellent terms with 
the natives, who came around the English in considerable 
numbers to trade, and to exchange presents. Thence he steered 
across the great strait which still bears his name, and after 
touching at Cumberland island, and making some further ex- 
ploration, returned, in the autumn, to England. 

On May 7th, of the following year, he sailed again, landed' 
in Greenland, and renewed his acquaintance with the Esqui- 
maux. The latter, however, ere long, began "to practise their 
devilish nature," performing many solemn incantations, though 
(thanks be to God, says Davis) without any baneful consequcncesi 



632 NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

Moreover, "tliey could in nowise forbear stealing;" and tlie 
crew seriously advised tlieir captain to "dissolve this new 
friendship, and leave the company of those thievish miscre- 
ants." Some difficulties ensued, and "the chief ringleader, a 
master of mischief," was captured by the English. 

Davis now crossed Baffin's Bay, and on the 17th of July 
saw, as he supposed, an extensive coast, diversified with hills, 
capes, and bays; but, to his horror, found it only "a most 
mighty and strange quantity of ice." His crew remonstrated 
against proceeding farther, informing their commander that, 
by "his over-boldness, he might cause their widows and fath- 
erless children to give him bitter curses," He pushed on, 
however, with his boldest mariners, in the Moonshine, and, 
after sailing to latitude sixty -six degrees, thirty -three minutes, 
coasted southward by Labrador, and so made his way to Eng- 
land. In this return passage, we may notice the slender 
beginning of the English cod-fishery, since so valuable, and the 
just importance attached to it by the politic statesmen of 
EHzabeth. 

"We saw," says Davis, "an incredible number of birds: 
hauing diuers fishermen aboord our barke, they all concluded 
there was a great skull of fish, we being vnprouided of fishing 
furniture, with a long spike nayle made a hooke, and fastening 
the same to one of our sounding lines, before the baite was 
changed we tooke more than forty great Cods. * * And 
having reported to Mr. Secretarie Walsinghame the whole suc- 
cesse of this attempt, he commanded me to present vnto the 
most honorable Lord high Treasurer of England, some part of 
that fish, which when his lordship sawe," &c., he expressed 
much satisfaction. 

In a third expedition, which, in 1587, Davis undertook, he" 
left hie vessels at his former station, on the coast of Greenland, 
and in a pinnace so dull that she sailed, he says, like a cart 
drawn by oxen, penetrated northward beyond seventy-two 
degrees, and made fresh surveys of the two coasts. Returning 
tp his rendezvous, he found that the vessels had deserted him, 




SVeni: in tmf. AitfTic- KK(;if>N. 



THE NOKTII-AVEST PASSAGE. 633 

and, in his slender and ill-sailing little craft, he voyaged snc- 
cessfully to England. Despite his sanguine expectations of 
still finding the passage, the bold commander was unable *to 
obtain the means for any further enterprises in those regions. 
He continued, however, to regard the adventure with that 
strange fondness which seems to distinguish all who have once 
embarked in Arctic exploration, and wrote a treatise, purport- 
ing, among other matters — 

1, "To prooue by experience that the sea fryseth not." 

2, " Tliat the ayre in eolde regions is tollerable." 

3, "That vnder the Pole is the place of greatest dignitie.'* 

Though two other attempts, under Captains Weymouth and 
Knight, were subsequently made, nothing of importance was 
accomplished until the eventful voyage of Henry Hudson, in 
1610. The brilliant discoveries and melancholy fate of that 
renowned voyager, have been related in a preceding article 
(pp. 465 to 465). Button, who was sent out to search for him, 
and to continue the attempt for the passage, entered Hudson's 
Bay, but was, of course, brought Up by its western coast, and 
returned without success in either object. Captain Gibbons, an 
officer of high reputation, who, in 1514, was dispatched on a 
similar errand, was entangled during the whole summer in a 
nook on the coast of Labrador, named, in commemoration of the 
misfortune, "Gibbons his Hole." Captain Bylot and William 
Baffin, a navigator of high reputation, two years afterwards, 
were sent out, and passing up the great Bay, named from the 
latter, penetrated to latitude seventy-eight degrees, and discov- 
ered Smith's inlet, and Lancaster's sound, afterwards ascertained 
to be the entrance to the Polar sea. The principal result of 
this voyage, for a long series of years, was the discovery of a 
profitable field for the whale-fishery. 

A Danish expedition, in 1619, made further exploration in 
Hudson's Bay, and the English, half a century later, attracted 
by the abundance of furs, established a trading company on 
the shores of that inland sea. For nearly two centuries, how- 
ever, comparatively little was done to extend the knowledge 



G3i NORTH AND SOUTH AINIERICA. 

already acquired concerning the dreary coasts and sounds of 
Arctic America. Enterprises sustained by ampler means, con- 
ducted Avith equal boldness, and distinguished by barren, 
though honorable success, were reserved for the inquiring 
spirit and enlarged resources of the nineteenth century 



CHAPTER II. 

MODERN EXPEDITIONS. 

"Oh, whither sail you, Sir John Franklin? 

Cried a whaler in Baffin's Bay. 
To try if between the Pole and the land, 

I may find a broad sea-way." 

Tke Ballad of Sir John Franklin. 

The genius of discovery, revived by the love of science, 
early in the present century, was, by the general pacification 
of Europe, which followed the great French wars, enabled to 
resume its arduous and honorable career. Among other expe- 
ditions fitted out by the British admiralty, one in two ships, 
the Isabella and Alexander, under command of Captain (Sir 
John) Eoss, was in April, 1818, dispatched in quest of the 
north-west passage, which, at that time, for more than half a 
century, had lain almost entirely neglected. That commander, 
passing up Baffin's Bay, and making rather a superficiiil survey 
of its coasts, came on the 30th of August to the splendid inlet, 
discovered by Baffin, and by him named Lancaster Sound. 
Up this passage, he proceeded for thirty miles, and then, 
prematurely discouraged by a delusive appearance of land 
stretching across it, put about, much to the chagrin of Lieu- 
tenant (afterwards Captain Sir "William Edward) Parry, who 
commanded the other vessel, and who was anxious to press 
on. The expedition, after some further surveys, returned to 
England. 



Tui: xor/ni-WEST passage. 635 

This latter officer, the most successfal of all Arctic discoverers, 
was, in the following year, put in command of the Ilecla and 
Griper, with instructions to continue the attempt. After expe- 
riencing great danger, and exhibiting high courage and perse- 
verance, the adventurers, on the 3d of August, with a fresh 
easterly wind, sailed westward through Lancaster Sound. The 
Ilecla had the lead, and her tops were crowded with officers 
and men, anxiously, yet exultingly looking for the continua- 
tion of the desired passage. Proceeding westward as far as 
longitude eighty-six degrees, thirty minutes, Parry discovered 
and explored for one hundred and twenty miles that spacious 
channel running to the south, which, in honor of the acting 
sovereign, he named Regent Inlet. lie then returned north- 
erly, and in rapid succession discovered, named, and passed 
"Wellington Inlet, and Cornwallis, Bathurst, and Bj-am Martin 
Islands. All were elate with the most sanguine expectation, 
and on reaching longitude one hundred and ten degrees, the 
crew became entitled to a reward of £5000, offered by the 
Admiralty to any who should attain that meridian. 

But on reaching Melville's Island, an impenetrable icy bar- 
rier lay before them. The wind failed and winter set in. 
The two ships were anchored in a harbor of that island, and 
vrere soon completely frozen in. The long Arctic winter was 
made endurable by the abundance of supplies, as well as by 
the good humor and manly spirit of the whole command; 
though from the 11th of November till the 3d of February, no 
sun was visible. It was not until the 2d of August, 1820, thnt 
the ice broke up, and allowed them an escape from their frozen 
prison. The great barrier still debarred all attempts to pro- 
ceed further westward, and the expedition set sail on its return 
to England, which, in the course of the autumn, was safely 
accomplished. 

The numerous discoveries of Parry, and the depth to which 
he had penetrated the Arctic regions, so far beyond any navi- 
gator who had preceded him, at once placed his name in the 
first rank of modern explorers; and in May, 1821, he was 



636 NORTH AND SOITH A^.iEEICA. 

again dispatched, witli the Hecla and Furj;, on the arduous 
enterprise of attempting the supposed passage, by the way of 
Hudson's Bay. Having with great difficulty effected an en- 
trance, and having encountered some of the rudest tribes of 
the Esquimaux, early in August he reached Fox channel, 
and sailed northward, making fresh surveys and discoveries. 
During all this brief Arctic summer, snow had been continually 
falling, though as constantly melted by the sun ; and as autumn 
came on, he was again frozen in for the winter. The courage, 
cheerfulness and enterprise of all on board rendered this gloomy 
season endurable, and the auroral lights, during the sunless 
season, lent their brilliant and fanciful coruscations to enliven 
the dreary scene. Many Esquimaux, of peaceable and friendly 
character, were encountered, and a better knowledge was ac- 
quired of this singular race than had been obtained by any 
former navigators. Among them, one Higliuk, "a wise wo- 
man," traced for the English the outlines of the coast north- 
ward and westward, with considerable accuracy; but awakened 
delusive hopes by delineating a strait opening westward into 
an unbounded ocean. 

Several expeditions were undertaken, on foot, across the 
dreary straits and shores by which the vessels were surrounded, 
and much suffering, without adequate recompense, in discov- 
ery, was undergone. On the 2d of July, 1822, the ships were 
released from their icy prison, and, amid great danger from 
conflicting masses of ice, sped rapidly northward. The strait 
depicted by Higliuk was reached, but was found impassable, 
from a huge barrier of ice. Captain Parry, with six compan- 
ions, now set off on foot, and at the end of four days of toil- 
some and perilous travel over its frozen surface, reached an 
eminence, whence, as he supposed, he saw plainly the entrance 
to the great Polar sea. This inlet (Hecla and Fury strait) 
leads in reality only to the great giilf of Boothia. After his 
return, the barrier softened by the action of the sun ; and the 
ships, after sailing into the inlet for some distance, actually 
forced their way three or four hundred yards into the yiLidii:g 



THE XORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 60 ( 

mass. There, during the remainder of the summer, they stuck 
fust; and as winter came on, were, by the tedious process of 
sawing through the ice, removed to a convenient harbor. Two 
of the part}^, proceeding over land by Cockburn's island, had 
reached a height whence, it was conlidently supposed, they 
beheld the Polar ocean, but vast barriers of ice precluded all 
access to its waters. 

Another dreary winter, during which the sun, for seven 
weeks, was completely eclipsed, passed slowly away ; a friendh^ 
intercourse being established with the Esquimaux, and much 
additional information being acquired concerning the nature 
and customs of that singular people. The spring was so late, 
that it was only by dint of the severest labor in sawing, that on 
the 7th of August the vessels were extricated from the ice ; the 
scurvy broke out among the crews, and the dauntless Parr}'", 
repressing for the time his desire for further exploration, re- 
turned, with much difficulty, to England. 

On the 24th of May, 1824, he again set sail, with the same 
vessels, to make a new attempt by way of Eegent's inlet. — 
Owing to the severity of the season, he had great difiiculty in 
making his way, by Lancaster sound, to Port Bowen, where 
he A^ntered ; and, in the following spring, (1S25,) he proceeded 
down the inlet. The vessels worked their way southward to 
latitude seventy -two degrees, fort3'-two minutes, where the Fury 
was so much injured by the ice, that, after unloading her stores 
on the desolate beach, the mariners were obliged to abandon 
her. After experiencing this disaster, which occasioned great 
loss of time, the crews of the two vessels, crowded on board 
the Hecla, were compelled to return to England. Here closes 
the account of this celebrated navigator's voyages and discov- 
eries in a north-west direction; his adventurous attempt, in 
1827, to reach the north pole, (like others in the same direc- 
tion,) not pertaining to our subject. 

The memorable overland expedition of Captain (Sir John) 
Franklin, with his brave companions, Richardson, Back, Hood 
and Hepburn, in the years 1819 to 1822, to the Polar sea, 



638 NORTH AND SOUTH AMEPJCA. 

presents a picture of courage, endurance, and enterprise seldom 
paralleled and never surpassed. In this arduous and terrible 
undertaking, the coast of the Arctic sea, from Coppermine river 
to Point Turn-again, was surveyed, and large additions were 
made to a knowledge of the northern regions of America. 
Undismayed by the fearful hardships which they had encoun- 
tered, the three first-named adventurers, in 1825, again set forth 
on another expedition in the same direction, lasting till 1827, 
in the course of which the coast was surveyed from Mackenzie 
river to the Coppermine and westward to Eeturn Cliff, and iit 
the expense of renewed and grievous sufferings, fresh additions 
were made to scientific and geographical knowledge. 

In the year 1829, a private voyage, the means for which 
were furnished by the liberality of Mr. Felix Booth, was un- 
dertaken by Captain (Sir John) Eoss, who, with his nephew, 
the celebrated Commander (Captain Sir James) Eoss, in the 
Victory, proceeded to Eegent's Inlet, and, after taking in a 
portion of the stores unloaded fii-om the Fury, proceeded down 
that channel, and wintered (fast in the ice for twelve months) 
at the harbor of Boothia Felix, on the west coast. The prin- 
cipal fruit of this expedition, which lasted till 1833, was a fur- 
ther survey of the coast by exploring parties, and the deter- 
mination of the situation of the "North Magnetic Pole" — 
principally due to the active and indefatigable services of 
Commander Eoss, who, on the 1st of June, 1831, planted the 
Union Jack on what was supposed its exact locality. 

The indefatigable exertions of Captain (Sir George) Back, 
the companion of Franklin and Eichardson, who, in 1833, jour- 
neyed overland to the Polar sea in search of the expedition 
of Eoss, and his enterprising though disastrous voyage to the 
Arctic seas, in 1836-7, reflected the highest honor on his name, 
though not distinguished by any important result beyond the 
acquisition of some new geographical items. 

Tlie persevering and energetic researches of Messrs. Simpson 
ana Dease, two officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1839, 
resulted in the almost entire completion of the survey of the 




SJR JOHJ^ FHAJ^KLI^, 

FROM A DAGUERKEOTVPE TAKEN ON SHITBOARD. 



THE XOETH-WEST TASSAGE. 639 

nortliern coast of America, and placed beyond a doubt the fad of 
a communication existing between the two oceans ; but wlietlier, 
while the seasons retain their present severity, a ship can ever 
be navigated through the ice-tangled straits and inlets of whicli 
it is composed, must be considered uncertain in the extreme. 

The latest and most memorable attempt in this perilous 
direction has now, for more than six years, held the attention 
of the civilized world in a suspepse, sanguine at first, gradually 
despondent, and, at the present moment, little better than 
reluctant despair. On the 19th of May, 1845, Captain Sir John 
Franklin, in command of the Erebus and Terror, set sail, with 
an hundred and thirty-eight souls, in quest of that glorious and 
fatal chimera, a Nortli-west Passage. No precaution which 
science and experience could suggest, or which unlimited 
means could apply, was neglected to insure safety and success 
to the undertaking. The commander announced his intention 
to spend three years in the adventurous attempt, and the 
expedition, with sanguine hopes, and the anxious good wishes 
of Europe and America, took its departure. 

On the 26th of July, the two ships were seen by a whaler, 
moored to an iceberg in the centre of Baffin's Bay ; and since 
that time, except the discovery of the graves of three of the 
company, and a few relics of an encampment, no tidings of 
their flite have been received. The British government, with 
laudable activity, has continued to this day a persevering- 
search for the lost navigator and his unfortunate crews; his 
admirable wife. Lady Jane Franklin, has, with indefiitigable 
zeal, devoted all her means and energies to the rescue of her 
husband; and the honorable zeal of private individuals, both 
English and American, has impelled them to embark life and 
fortune in the same noble and perilous undertaking. 

The frozen coasts and inlets of the North have been searched 
with an ardent courage and a resolute endurance, which, though 
as yet unsuccessful, reflect the highest honor on the brave men 
who have engaged in this benevolent enterprise. That these 
attempts, still generously continued, will ever be rewarucd w itii 



(^^' 



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720, INCLUDIXG ILLUSTRATIONS. ^p- ^ 

the rescue of the objects of tlieir exertions, or even tlie discovery 
of their fate, seems, unhappily, improbable. Meanwhile, conjec- 
ture vainly strives to penetrate the secrets of that terrible region 
in which, dead or living, they have so long been immured. 
Whether, amid storms and icebergs, in the Arctic seas, they 
have gone down, and left no trace; whether, locked up for 
years in immovable leagues of ice, they slowly perished; or 
whether, as many deem, they have penetrated to the great 
Polar Basin, and there, in a climate comparatively mild, are 
still protracting life, and looking for aid to the distant shores 
of England, will, it is too probable, never be known to mankind. 



THE END. 



/ 



